Silver Guardian
by aielsoul
Summary: When Cora learns of her daughters fate, she finds a way to protect her future queen. Better summary in chapter 1
1. Chapter 1

Okay. This fic is going to be a roller coaster. Some canon events will come about, but they may or may not be in canon order. Some canon events will occur but only an idea of them, like I'm going to change them quite a bit. The rating will be M because I tend to swear a lot and maybe even some sexytimes could occur. Probably plenty of violence, and dark humor because I dig those things. Definitely going to be some f/f, maybe m/m, maybe f/m… maybe f/f/m/f/f. I don't know. Just assume that if you are offended by something, this fic may contain it. Or it may not. This story will be focused on Regina and an original character. If you have read my other long ass fic that I'm trying to finish, you will recognize the OC, but this one is pretty different, just similar in name and appearance really. Maybe Regina hooks up with my OC, maybe not. I don't know yet, so I'm not telling you either.

Summary: this will begin in the Enchanted Forest, may venture into Storybrooke. The story starts the day Regina is born. Cora must prevent a future she has seen where Regina dies at an early age. A solution to this future is found, but of course, it comes with a price. Welcome aboard.

I own nothing but my own ideas. I do not own ouat. All mistakes are mine, no beta.

Chapter 1

Cora paced the floor of the nursery, silently contemplating what she had just witnessed. The servants are still scrubbing the floor where the blood had pooled onto the rugs. They did their job as quickly and quietly as possible, wanting desperately to get away from the mad woman pacing the floor.

This wasn't the first body they had been forced to clean up, and no one was foolish enough to think it would be the last. Every servant knew not to say a word to prince Henry of course. One such servant had tried to tell on Cora, but he became another bleeding corpse before he made it to Henry's chamber door. The only thing they wondered anymore was if they would be next. It wasn't really unusual for Cora to suddenly snatch up a servant who had done nothing wrong and break their neck. She had a bit of a temper.

Cora ignored them as they worked. If any one of them got under foot she would have to kill them to prove a point of course, but then it would take even longer for them to dispose of the body and she very much wanted them out of the room. They finally finished, the floor looking as new as ever.

Once they had all gone, Cora looked into the cradle again at her daughter. The woman who owned that bloodstain had been able to see into childrens futures. It wasn't perfect sight, things could always change, but the glimpse she had seen about this baby had been her ending.

Cora couldn't let word spread that her daughter had a short life ahead of her. That couldn't get around, because Cora wouldn't have it. Regina would be queen one day, no matter how many bodies piled up to make her throne.

Cora smiled at the baby resting peacefully in the crib. "Oh, my dearest Regina. Don't you worry, mummy's going to fix this." The baby cooed in her sleep as if she agreed and Cora quietly left the room.

After seeing to the servant women who would care for her child, Cora wrapped her cloak around herself and headed for the stables. She had a trip to make that would surely be painful at best. But she would do anything for her daughter; even make a deal with the devil himself.

…

Rumplestiltskin was happily spinning his straw into gold, not really worrying about anything at the moment. He had an eternity to contemplate anything he wanted to, and right now, he choose to think of nothing at all. He was so engrossed in nothingness that he did not hear the banging on his castle door at first. He stopped suddenly when the banging became magnified, obviously with magic.

He sniffed the air and a growl came up from his throat; oh he knew exactly who this smell came from. Her magic reeked of betrayal and coldness. Not that his smelled much better mind you, he just didn't like hers.

He made his way to the door, taking a deep breath to steady his nerves. He told himself to stop being ridiculous, after all he is the dark one. Just because this slip of a girl fooled him once, didn't mean he needed to be anxious. Finally, he threw open the door, doing his best to look bored.

Cora stood there on his step, looking furious at herself for even bothering to come here. She knew he wouldn't help her, he had no reason to. He did however have every reason not to help her. When she stared at him long enough she sighed, "well, are you going to let me in or not?"

With a disgusted twist of his face, he answered, "no. I've just had the castle rid of rats, it would be foolish of me to invite another one in dearie."

Biting her cheek in an attempt not to end this visit before it really began, Cora managed to speak again after a moment. "Do you know I have given birth to a daughter?" Rumple nodded, leaning on the doorframe as if he couldn't care less. "Well, I have just had her future foretold and it ends far too soon for my liking. I need something to protect her. She will be queen."

Rumple smiled a toothy grin then, giving her his best mad man giggle, "poor poor Cora! Your precious future ticket to glory is being snuffed out before it even blossoms. How terrible." He made to close the door in her face, but his own future sight struck him. Sometimes it came at the very worst of times. But sometimes, it was rather convenient.

He watched in his minds eye as the daughter of Cora grew into a woman and cast a curse. The curse she cast was so powerful it took him to the land without magic. The land Baelfire had gone off to. The land he can't figure out how to get to…

Cora watched as the imp grabbed the door and she assumed this was the end of their conversation, but his eyes seemed to glaze over for just a moment. She was nearly going to touch him to get his attention when he started and shook his head lightly. He turned towards her and gave her an impish grin. "Cora… I've had a very sudden change of heart. That happens, you know, when you don't bury the damn thing."

Clenching her jaw to contain her anger, Cora smiled a fake smile and asked him sweetly, "will you help me then?"

Rumple giggled again and stood aside, gesturing for Cora to enter his home. "In fact, I will. I just can't bear to see an innocent child die so prematurely."

They made their way to a table and sat across from one another. They talked and planned and dismissed ridiculous thoughts until the sun had set and then risen again. Cora was exhausted mentally and physically by the time she stumbled back into her carriage. She slept the entire trip back to her home and didn't bother checking on her baby. Instead she made straight to her chambers to wash and eat and rest. The plan they had come up with was fool proof. She had made Rumple explain the particulars at least five times before she agreed to it. In fact, he had convinced her so thoroughly… she had missed what her price would be. Surely he wouldn't do this favor for no cost from her. The risk he would be taking to put this plan into action would be incredibly high, even for the dark one. But no, she had been too tired to think of consequences. The end result is what mattered. He had future sight too, and he said if they did this, Regina would be queen. That was all she needed to hear really. She slept that night more peacefully than she could remember for a long time.

…

Rumple took himself to the nearest point that his magic would allow him to travel to. The island could be seen from this shore, but just barely. He made a boat just big enough to make the trip and began rowing for the island in the distance. He was nervous, as any man would be, going to this island. In fact, any man foolish enough to try has been killed before setting foot there. But, he couldn't be killed so easily, and he had bargaining skills that far surpassed those of normal men.

As his boat hit the shoreline, he could feel the weight pushing him down. His magic wouldn't do him any good here, but his immortality would protect him. He waited for a few moments and sure enough, a figure approached from the thick trees growing past the sand of the beach.

The woman approached him slowly, but she had a grace that told him she could kill anything in a moments notice. She walked around him twice, looking him up and down again. She was slightly taller than he was, and had very well defined, yet feminine muscles. She had short cropped hair that shone golden in the sun. Her skin is what told the world she wasn't human though. Her skin was covered from her toes to the crown of her head in glimmering golden runes. Even he couldn't decipher the ancient language that they were written in. The sirens were far older than any dark one.

When finally she stopped examining him she tilted her head and spoke to him. He didn't understand what she said though, not a word. He smiled and quietly said, "I do not speak your language."

The siren seemed to perk up and concentrate on his mouth as he spoke. She opened her mouth and made a few sounds before he understood anything, but finally she got it. "It has been many years since we have seen one of your kind."

He nodded and spoke slowly, giving her magic time to acquire his language. "Yes. Humans have grown much since last they came here. Some cannot even see your island." The siren nodded in agreement and a look of sadness seemed to pass across her features. "I wish to speak to your queen, please."

The siren looked him up and down yet again, contemplating his request. But finally she turned and gestured for him to follow. He let out a breath he didn't know he had held and followed her into the trees. If she had refused, he would be in that boat, headed back to the main land in defeat. The siren isles cannot be navigated by anyone who does not possess the ancient magic. He followed her closely, but not too close. The texts he'd read were very clear on the fact that sirens would not be touched by man. He did feel that it was a shame though, due to the total lack of clothing this siren sported, he would not refuse if she offered him a feel. He let his mind wonder how her skin would feel against his hands. Not entirely thinking with his manhood, he wondered if the runes were raised. Were they rough or smooth? Perhaps they were flat and felt like no more than a tattoo on a human. Maybe they felt rough and cold like the gold they looked to be made of. He wouldn't find out though, he knew that. This siren was obviously curious about how he survived getting to the island and that was likely why she had shown herself to him. But he wasn't stupid. He kept his hands very much to himself.

They walked for what seemed like days, and not a word was spoken to him. The few times he attempted to engage her in conversation, she pointedly ignored him.

Finally, the mass jungle broke into a deep valley. He guessed it could be a hundred miles around, but maybe more. Things were not as they seemed on this island. The one he was following led him into a massive stone city that took up the entire valley. The stone was grey and decorated heavily with the same ancient golden rune language as was on the siren herself. As they walked thru the streets, hundreds of golden figures stared at them, but never spoke a word. Not one of them wore clothing, and not one of them seemed to care at all.

They passed buildings that looked like shops, but without any merchandise set out. Some buildings looked to be restaurants, with chairs and tables set about outside. But no one occupied those tables, and no food could be smelled. At least five large fountains poured water into massive basins along their route, but the sirens around them did not drink from it. They did not play in the basin or even speak to one another. They simply stared at him and his guide as they walked. No children were seen, of course. But he knew there would not be any. He silently congratulated himself on his knowledge, so far it proved correct. If it had not, well… he would be without any bargaining chips.

The guide led him up massive stone steps leading to the central building. It was at least fifteen stories tall, but eerily quiet. It was obviously a respected place and likely the home of their queen. The steps were large and stone, with the golden runes on every one of them. If he had been a mortal, if the trip thru the jungle hadn't killed him, these stairs would have. Once inside the building, the guide turned to him abruptly and motioned him to stay. She then vanished in a streak of golden light, leaving him alone in a grand room. He looked around but found no stairs or doors. Only windows adorned the walls. There was no way he could have gotten to a higher level, so he simply waited.

A voice behind him caused him to jump and swing around. He hadn't heard or felt anyone arrive, but of course, this wasn't his domain. The woman that stood before him looked much like his guide, and in fact, much like every woman he had seen. The only differences were very subtle. This one had slightly longer hair, and her golden eyes seemed dull, not as brightly shining as his guides. She wore no clothes either, but on her head was a very thin silver ring. Assuming that was her crown, Rumple bowed very low to the siren queen.

The queen waited for him to straighten himself before she spoke. "I trust my siren has given me your proper language?"

"Yes, majesty, I can understand you very well."

The queen nodded briskly and spoke again. "Good. I wish to know why you are here. You are forbidden."

Rumple spread his hands in an attempt to show her he meant no harm. "I come to trade favors with you and your people."

The queen arched one brow at him, which was more expression than he thought he would see from her. "What do you have for us?"

Clearing his throat he realized that this would not be an exaggerated process. She wanted to cut straight to the matter at hand. Which suited him just fine. He was becoming eager to be off this island. "I can bring you humans. As many as you like, and as often as you like."

The queen stared at him, seemingly thoughtful on the offer. "one hundred on the first day of every solstice."

He swallowed hard, that was less than he had thought she would want. He had gotten lucky. "That can be easily arranged." He waited until the queen nodded before asking for his price. "In exchange, I want one egg, of my choosing."

The queens eyes flashed violently bright gold and she bared her teeth at him, nearly growling, "how dare you even ask such a thing? That is not a price we will pay."

He took a step back in shock, but he quickly gathered himself again. He had forgotten how fierce these creatures are said to be. He had been lulled into a false sense of security from all the passive faces of the city. He fully recalled now. They were said to be immortal warriors from a time before time had a name. No siren had ever fallen in battle, it was an utter mystery as to why they had left the lands of men to settle their own territory. They could very easily have ruled the entire realm, but chose to live in seclusion instead. "I ask for one egg, and only one. If I deliver your one hundred per solstice, you could hatch at least two for every boat load of humans. One egg lost, in order to gain so many. It is not an unfair price, majesty."

The queen seemed to regain her composure as he spoke. She turned from him and faced out a window into the quiet city. "Do you know how long we have been without?" He did not answer, he felt he should let her think aloud instead. "The last human on this island died nearly three hundred years ago. No egg has been hatched since. My sirens have fallen to a state of depression that I cannot cure them of. I understand your price is fair. But, I will not allow you to choose. How could you even know what it is you choose?"

Rumple thought a moment and said, "I have a very precise need of an egg. I had thought I could decipher which would be best for my needs."

The queen allowed he mouth to curve upwards ever so slightly, very nearly a smile. "You made it here to my island because you hold a deep dark magic in you. But I assure you, you are like a child tossed into a raging river here. At any second you could be snuffed out as easily as a babe on the waves. You have been allowed to speak with me because you survived the journey. Do not mistake your survival skills for capability."

Rumple bowed his head in acceptance. "Yes, majesty. I apologize for my ego. Would you allow me to tell you of my needs? Then perhaps you could choose an egg for me?"

The queen seemed to be in turmoil but was hiding it very well. Her sirens were sacred to her, and although it was a good deal, losing one egg to the outside world of man was a very torturous idea. "Very well. Tell me what it is you need her for."

"There is a mortal child who is foretold to die at a young age. I do not wish this upon her. I have need of her as an adult and I obviously cannot use a corpse. I have seen many courses and choices for her future, but all lead to death. There is only one path that allows her to live. The image I see for her life is of her standing next to a siren. At first I did not know who she stood with, but your people are very easy to find in the history texts. I searched and found mention of your island, and how none of your eggs have hatched for so long. I know that your numbers drop slowly as the years go on and before too many more, you will be the last one of your people." Rumple shuddered at the thought of how these creatures operate. They could choose to live and choose to die. During a time when women came to this island in droves, the eldest sirens could decide they were done, and they would die. Eggs would be hatched with an unknown assistance method from the female humans and thus, the siren population stayed about even for thousands of years. But without humans to help hatch eggs, the eldest gave up wanting to live, and no new sirens replaced them. Now their numbers shrunk, with no hope of regaining itself.

Humans stopped coming to the island so long ago because of wars and kingdom splits. Many bits of knowledge are lost in wars. The isle of sirens was one of the bits lost. To make matters worse, any man who ventured to this island never returned, or lived to see it up close. The sirens had no use for the men. The men did not help hatch eggs. The women who came here lived long healthy and very happy lives. The sirens doted on them hand and foot, fulfilling their every desire in exchange for hatching.

The queen listened until he was done then thought for several minutes before closing her eyes in what could only be described as defeat. "I know who you need. She has waited for ten thousand years to hatch. She has refused every attempt."

Rumple was confused. Ten thousand years to hatch? Maybe it was a rotten egg. He wasn't going to accept a bottom of the barrel egg. "Majesty, if this egg is less than perfect…?"

The queen spoke over him, "this egg is far above perfect. The child inside is exceptional and unusual. Sirens do not simply hatch because you tell them to. They hatch at the only opportune time. She knows it is not her time. I know these eggs. They are my own fruits. I know their names and how they will look. This one, is exceedingly special. I could not have known how, but I always thought she would save our entire race. It seems I was right so many thousands of years ago. When she was created, I knew she would save us all, before I even knew we would need saving."

Rumple gave up, he wasn't going to argue with her. So he merely nodded and said, "then let me see her, and I will be on my way. The next solstice is only a week away. I would assume you would want to hatch sooner rather than later."

The queen nodded and waved a hand before him. There was a flash of golden light and he opened his eyes to find himself staring at an underground field filled wall to wall with large white eggs. Just big enough to hold a baby. The eggs were all identical, covered in the golden runes. He looked out on the ocean of eggs, thinking she couldn't possibly know who was who.

He turned to politely ask which one but then he saw she was already touching one. This one was different. Very different. "Majesty… it's different… Are you sure it is not defective?"

The queen looked annoyed at him but answered anyway. "She is different. Very different. Any other of these babes could not survive in your world of man. Have you not wondered why we live here on our isle?" After he shrugged she decided to tell the tale, if only to make him wait longer for his prize. "The world of man was our home long ago. But they began fighting. We were spread across the realms, but still connected thru our ancient existence. But when men began fighting their neighbors, sirens began fighting for them. At first, one siren did not fight another, they would simply bow out of the battle once their humans had lost. But then, the inevitable occurred. Two of my sirens came against each other in battle. Instead of bowing out and fighting humans, they attacked each other. Sirens are so very loyal, you see. It is in our blood. At some point, the loyalty in these two sirens shifted. Instead of being loyal to their own kind, they took the sides of humans. That meant destroying the other one. They fought for days before I was aware of it. I rushed to end it, but I arrived moments too late. Sirens cannot be killed by men, but they can end each other. It was the first time a siren has been ended before they chose to do so. The second and final time a siren was killed, was when I destroyed the surviving siren. My own child. They all are. Since then we do not deal with the world of man. My sirens can be swayed and do not understand the emotions you humans have an abundance of. But this babe…" She rested her hand fondly on the shining silver runed egg, "this one I can feel is more akin to humans. She will be loyal to only one human, and for all time. She has raw emotion, and thoughts of her own. She is the only one who you could take."

Rumple was awestruck at this queen. He had underestimated her wisdom and sense. "I will accept her then. How can I be sure she will stand faithfully to the human of my choosing?"

The queen opened her hand revealing a tiny bottle containing golden liquid. "Place the egg touching the chosen human. Find a human woman to speak the ancient words of birth." At his look of panic she produced a scroll written in his language that had the birthing spell on it. "Once the words have been spoken, pour this liquid into the chosens mouth. If this siren accepts the bond, she will hatch and be forever tied to the chosen human."

"And if this siren does not accept?"

The queen smiled at the silver egg fondly, "she will accept."

Rumple took a deep breath and put the bottle and scroll carefully into his pocket. He crouched down by the silver egg. "I will trust you then."

The queen nodded and in a flash of gold, he found himself crouching on the beach next to the silver egg. He looked around and found the queen standing near the tree line. "I will await the promised humans. If they do not come, your chosen will have a guardian, and I will take your life."

Rumple nodded. He had no intention of breaking this deal. He had already prepared nearly five hundred women to travel to the island. He gently placed the egg in the boat and was about to push off when he had a thought and he turned quickly, happy to see the queen still there. "Majesty, you said you know your babes. What is her name?"

The queen sighed, "you will find her name when she is hatched. It is not for me to tell you, for that is her beginning."

Shrugging, Rumple shoved off and began rowing to the main land.

The queen watched the small boat drift away with one of her children. Another siren appeared next to her, and asked her, "why did you let him take her?"

The queen answered in an amused way, "because, she told me to let her go. She has been waiting for him to come get her for so very long. How could I tell her no?"

The siren sighed, "but when will we get our heir back?"

"I do not know the answer to that. But she will return to us one day. She will usher in a new dynasty of sirens. She will be the greatest queen the siren nation has ever seen. She will bring in the silver age and with it, prosperity."

The queen took her childs hand and they returned home, after all, humans were coming in only one week. Preparations must be made.

….

Cora waited impatiently for the dark one to show up. She only hoped Henry was not around when he did. Memory potions were easy to make, but she was almost concerned about long term effects after all the ones she has had to give that man.

A cloud of smoke swirled and revealed Rumple standing in the nursery. He was holding a large egg covered in silver markings. He gently sat the egg in the cradle next to the sleeping Regina. Cora stood next to him and listened as he told his tale of the siren isles.

"Okay, give me the paper then. The sooner we do this the sooner you leave."

Rumple rolled his eyes but gave her the paper. Cora read the words and carefully put the liquid in the babys mouth. Rumple made sure Regina was touching the egg and without much preamble, the egg began cracking and wobbling around.

Cora watched as the egg vanished in a silvery smoke and there next to her own daughter lay a baby with silver eyes, staring up at her. She waited… But that seemed to be it. "That's the guardian? It's a baby! How is a baby going to protect another baby?!"

Rumple frowned at the silver eyed infant. "She doesn't have any runes… maybe they come later? I saw a pup once that grew spots as it aged…"He poked at the baby siren but it squirmed and cooed like any other human baby did.

Cora sighed heavily and was about to toss this silver eyed baby to a servant to raise when she had a thought. "Rumple… do me a favor… pinch my daughter, not to hard, just enough to sting a bit."

Rumple eyed her suspiciously, "why should I provoke the siren?"

"You're immortal."

He considered telling her that a siren could possibly kill him, but thought better of it. After all, how much damage could an infant do? He reached into the cradle and touched Regina. No reaction. He nudged Regina, just a bit. Nothing at all. He took a deep breath and pinched Reginas arm just hard enough to wake her up and make her start crying.

There was a flash of silver light and next thing Rumple knew he was lying on the floor on the opposite end of the room, head spinning.

Cora was laughing triumphantly and gingerly picked up Regina to soothe her cries. She was happily looking down at the siren infant. "Well, I'd say it's a good start. Knocking around a dark one is pretty good for an infant." She looked at her daughter and suddenly gasped loudly in shock.

Rumple pulled himself off the ground, not admitting to having a slamming headache and rushed to see what the problem was. Cora pointed to the space above her daughters heart. There in tiny shimmering silver letters was written, LORELEI.

He glanced at the cradle and went to see the silver eyed infant. On her chest, just above her heart in tiny silver lettering it said REGINA.

He smiled and giggled. "It worked! When she defended her, I think it made the bond official. And I'm willing to guess, as she grows and develops her magic and skills, her runes will pop up one by one."

Cora looked disgusted. "Are you telling me my daughter is going to get more tattoos?!"

Rumple shrugged, he really didn't care. The future was on track. This child would grow to cast his curse. "Hell if I know, dearie. I'm off to go gather chips. Have fun!" With that he vanished in his cloud of smoke.

Cora let out a disgruntled sigh but decided that she would deal with any more marks as they came. She placed her daughter in with the siren and they cooed and batted at each other. She walked out and informed all the servants of the additional infant. They certainly looked prepared to question it, but the smell of blood hadn't entirely dissipated yet, so they stayed silent.

….

Well that's the first chapter. Reviews are always welcome. I hope you liked it.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Cora was awoken by a very scared looking servant girl. Normally, no one would dare disturb her, but it must be very important…

Cora glared at the girl in the dim early morning light and if looks alone could kill, well, she supposed her entire staff would have died long ago. "This had better be very good or very bad."

The servant swallowed hard, sweating profusely already. "Yes my lady… uhm… the new infant… she's hungry…"

Cora tilted her head at this obviously suicidal child. "So feed it. After you feed it, come back so I can kill you for waking me for something so stupid."

The girl paled even further, which was quite a sight. "uhm, yes. We tried my lady. The infant will not take a bottle and she will not stop crying. We're afraid she will perish if she doesn't eat soon."

Cora frowned at this. Could the infant die? The whole point of a siren guardian was that they had never been killed. Immortality could be assumed. The crying was likely going to get annoying very quickly however. Sighing heavily Cora sat up a bit in her bed. "Well, Regina's nursemaid is out of the question. That woman can barely feed her own child after Regina suckles. Ask the other staff, find a nursing mother who can produce enough to sustain their own infant and if they make too much, bring them in to nurse her."

The servant looked incredibly relieved and began backing out of the room quickly while curtsying and saying "yes my lady".

Cora stretched and considered managing this problem, but in the end laid back down, because really, the worst case was the siren screamed until it could eat solid food. She would simply avoid the nursery until then if they could not make it eat.

…

Bethany practically flew through the manor asking every servant she passed if they knew of a nursing mother. The problem was that it had been most difficult to get one for Regina. No one wanted the responsibility of taking care of Cora's offspring. If the child had an ailment, surely the nursemaid would be the first to lose their heads. She asked everyone until she came to the kitchens. At this time of day, only the lady of the kitchen was there, busily preparing the breads to bake for breakfast.

Bethany sat heavily on a stool and allowed herself to breath even as she cried. She was going to die painfully if she failed, she just knew it. The kitchen lady came over to her, calmly comforting her. The older woman was a grandmother now, and well accustomed to comforting servants who came crying to her kitchens. She had worked for Henry and Cora since they had wed and although Cora never came at her, she was well aware of the trauma and death she handed out daily.

"Shush now girl. It can't be all that bad; you still have a head after all."

Bethany dried her tears and took a few steady breaths before answering the woman. "It's fine now, but when I fail to produce a nurse maid, I'll be dead."

Frowning at the girl the older woman asked, "Regina has a nurse maid. Surely Cora hasn't killed her?"

Shaking her head quickly the girl answered in broken sobs, "the new infant needs one also. She won't take the bottle and Cora said to find her one. Except no one is admitting they know a girl!"

The kitchen lady patted the girls head and asked her to take her to the new child. Bethany looked confused, but maybe this old woman knew something she did not. So she did as she was asked and led the woman up to the nursery. The screaming infant could be heard from two halls away easily. Poor dear was starving and nothing would soothe her.

Stepping into the room, the older woman stopped in her tracks, nostrils flaring at some smell. The other ladies assumed it was the baby smell of diapers and sour milk the old woman was probably unaccustomed to. She quickly recovered and held her hands out to the woman with bags under her eyes holding a screaming infant. The moment the grandmother held the child against herself, the infant quieted. She stared up at her with her silver eyes and reached her shaky hand up to the womans hair, tugging it gently.

Every woman in the room sighed heavily and took seats, some on the floor. They were all exhausted from the childs all night wailing. Regina was fast asleep in her cradle, apparently uncaring of her friends plight. "There now, what is all that fussing for?" The woman spoke gently to the child. After a few minutes of gentle rocking, the infant fell asleep peacefully in her arms.

"How the devil did you do that?" One woman asked her in a hushed whisper.

"I'm a grandmother now. My granddaughter is one week old today in fact. Maybe this babe just needed her own granny to hold her?"

The girls looked skeptical, but so long as she wasn't screaming, they didn't care. They'd never heard a child make such a racket. The wailing was unnatural at best. Three other women had run off in the night from the wailings. The rest had been too scared of Cora's wrath. The kitchen lady thought for a moment and then nodded to herself, mind made up. "Bethany, go back to Cora, tell her I am taking this infant to find her a nurse maid. If she questions it, tell her she can hold it while she screams."

Bethany actually wavered on the point of fainting but nodded eventually. "I will inform her when she awakens."

Several women tried to talk her out of taking the child, but in the end, the kitchen lady ignored them. She wasn't afraid of Cora, never had been. This child needed to eat and she knew someone who might have a chance of feeding it. If Cora had a problem with her finding a child food, well she could bring it straight to her.

….

It had taken time to get enough staff to manage her kitchens properly, but eventually she was on her way, walking quickly. The child was still asleep, now wrapped in a blanket to hide her from the early morning sun. She made her way west from the manor house, hoping she knew what she was getting herself and her tiny family into.

She finally made it to the tiny house on the outside of the village and quickly entered, barring the door behind her. Her daughter was already watching her, having heard her approaching.

"Mother? What is that?"

"It's a baby dear. Well, not a baby deer… it's a baby, baby. A baby something in any case." She was hurriedly racing around the tiny house closing all the windows so no passing person could possibly see in. Her daughter was watching her curiously, glancing at her own sleeping infant in her cradle. "Cora acquired this child yesterday. I don't know how, no one saw the infant coming in. But, she won't eat. Apparently she screamed all night and refuses a bottle."

"Great, but why did you bring it here? If Cora learns you stole her… new infant?"

The older woman dismissed her with a wave of her hand. "I will probably be back before she pours her ass out of bed." Finally satisfied with the house security, she gently uncovered the infant in her arms. Once the light hit her face, the infant awoke. The womans daughter gasped as she caught the scent of the child, and then again when she saw her eyes open. "Have you ever smelled something like this before?"

Shaking her head slowly, the daughter came closer to the infant, "She is not human. But, what is she?" The infant cooed and reached eagerly for the woman staring down at her. She took the infant from the blanket and her mothers arms, holding her gently. She glanced at her mother again, "they said she won't eat? What did they try giving her?"

"A bottle, with what I assume was extra milk from Regina's nursemaid."

Frowning the daughter asked again, "should I try?" The older woman nodded and she sat down, gently holding the infant up to nurse. The child latched on instantly and began nursing loudly and hungrily. "Well, she certainly is hungry…" She frowned harder then and shook her head. "We shouldn't be doing this mother. My milk could be…"

The older woman sat and put her hand on her daughters shoulder. "It's fine. You're not human, but neither is she. I tell you when I held that child it quit crying in an instant. My blood called out to hold her, to comfort her. I don't know what she is, but she is a kindred creature and I will not let her starve." She smiled then at her daughter, "Even if I have to go get knocked up myself to make her food."

Her daughter laughed then, careful not to disrupt the infant. "Yes, I can see it now. My mother out holding a sign for the village men that says 'Granny Lucas needs a bun in her oven'" She continued laughing as the infant fell asleep, finally full.

Smiling happily at the sleeping infant she said, "well, my dear Anita, if you won't do it, I will."

Anita smiled and gently wrapped the child up again, handing her back to granny. "I will do it. But do Red and I have to live in the manor?"

Granny stood and nodded, "yes, of course. It's only for eight or nine months, maybe less if this child can be on mush as soon as a wolf babe can."

Anita swallowed, but gathered up her own child and began preparing a few things to take with her. "I will come for my things later then. I will try to raise my daughter as human, mother. But I cannot make any guarantees. Even with your cloak, I feel the pull so very strongly."

Granny nodded and put the cloak in question around her shoulders. "If you cannot, then you cannot. I trust you to make the right decision for Red though." They started out towards the manor together, two babes and a few satchels of belongings in tow. It was going to be a long few months.

…

Cora eventually did pull herself out of bed, it was somewhere around lunchtime probably. She didn't have anything to do nowadays since she was thought to be burdened with an infant. However, she still enjoyed her time to herself so she simply employed more peasants to do it for her. One day she would take control of Regina's life and mold her into a proper queen. But that day was not today. She washed and rang for her maid to assist her and send for lunch. "Did that girl find a nurse maid for the new infant?"

The maid jumped slightly, usually Cora ignored her entirely through the routine of getting ready. "Yes, my lady. The Lady of the kitchen has a daughter who gave birth to a daughter of her own not long ago. I believe she is with the new infant now."

Cora nodded and brushed past her maid, ignoring her once again, which was just fine by the maid. She made her way to the nursery, she liked to hold Regina for a few minutes every so often so the child knew her. She went to the cradle and picked up her dark haired infant. She was thankful her child had been born with hair; the siren was completely bald. "Has Regina been eating and sleeping well?"

The ladies in the room all nodded and stood with heads bowed, except one wild haired woman sitting in a chair watching her. Cora immediately did not like her. She glared at the woman, "do you not know to stand when I am in your presence servant?"

Anita raised a brow and stood slowly. She very much hated Cora already, meeting her has now increased her hatred. "Beg your pardon my lady. I am the new nurse maid for Lorelei."

Cora hated her more. "Who is Lorelei?"

With an amused look, Anita responded, "the infant who has been sharing a cradle with your child? The infant whose name is on your childs chest and who bears your childs name on hers?"

Cora put Regina down gently before rounding on this woman. "How dare you insinuate I do not know my child? I simply have not had time to learn this other childs name. What gutter did they dig you out of and bring you here from?"

Anita smiled sweetly and showed her teeth, "I am the daughter of your kitchen lady."

Cora stopped herself immediately. She knew exactly what the kitchen lady was. This woman was her daughter, then she was a werewolf too. A werewolf, in her house… A SECOND werewolf! This one was nursing her… oh. Cora waved at the other women, sending a clear signal to get out. They rushed out quickly, assuming they would need to clean up another corpse soon. "What do you know of this infant?"

Anita shrugged and took her seat again. Cora was a pompous ass, but she knew better than to anger a wolf pack. She didn't know her and granny were the only members of this one though. "My mother brought her to me to nurse. Our blood calls to her, and hers sings back to us. I don't think this child would take human milk."

Cora clenched her jaw at this arrogant woman. But, they said the siren wouldn't eat. Maybe it was a beast thing. She promptly decided however to have it off milk by six months at the most. Cora rolled her eyes and headed out of the nursery, "just keep it alive."

Anita smirked as Cora left and the other ladies came flooding back in. When they saw her not only alive, but smiling, they decided she was dangerous and left her to her self. Which was exactly what Anita wanted. The less human socializing she had to do, the happier she would be and maybe she could last until Red was off the milk at least.


	3. Chapter 3

Still with me? I don't know where we're going, but follow me. We'll get somewhere!

Chapter 3

Everyday, the infants grew. Regina had the finest clothes and the softest blankets of course. The other three were treated better than the village children, and together the four of them grew. Regina and Lorelei had to sleep in the same cradle, if taken away from one another for too long, they would cry until they were together again. So, three cradles and four infants were in the nursery. It was getting slightly crowded as they grew to crawling. Cora could never spend more than fifteen minutes in the room before becoming overwhelmed and leaving in a hurry. Eventually, once nursing was finished, Regina and Lorelei would move to one room and the other two would be given servants quarters with their mothers if they chose to stay.

Cora wasn't overly generous, but if her nursemaids chose to stay in her employ as nannies, that was fine by her. Reginas nurse never intended to stay and would soon be leaving the manor. Anita hadn't made a decision to stay or go.

The day finally came when Regina was fully able to eat without nursing and her maid took leave as quickly as she received her payment. Lorelei and Red had been eating for a few weeks but everyone decided it was all or none in order to make things smoother.

"Anita please. You can't take her to a pack. She needs to live in this world!" Granny argued wit her daughter for what seemed like the millionth time about Red and her future upbringing.

"Why mother? Why should a werewolf live in this human world?" Anita was pacing again, she needed to run free. She needed out of these manor walls and to be away from the villages.

"The wolves live in constant fear of being hunted. She won't be able to shift with you for at least 12 years. Are you going to carry her thru the forest as men hunt you down?"

Anita cried freely as she held her daughter close. Red smiled and laughed and tried to play with her wild hair. "No… But I can't stay here either. I can't."

In the end, Anita left. She left to run wild with the other werewolves and be free of human constraints. Red was left in the care of her grandmother and much to Coras' displeasure, in the manor.

…..

The three girls eventually grew out of their cradles and moved to small beds. Lorelei and Regina still insisted on sleeping next to each other. Red was allowed to sleep in their room on a cot if she behaved, which she tried very hard to.

By the time the girls reached six years old, Cora had finally gotten around to raising her daughter. She began pruning her for her future role as a queen, although she wasn't entirely sure how to go about that particular detail just yet.

"But mother, why do I have to wear this heavy dress? Lorelei and Red are allowed to wear anything they want!" Regina pouted as she stumbled around the room, trying to manage her dress and the shoes her mother insisted she wear.

Cora sighed and steadied her daughter as she learned to walk in her gown. "They are not my children, nor are they future queens. Red is an orphan I graciously allow to live here with her grandmother. Lorelei is your guardian and, quite frankly, as long as she keeps clothing of any type on, I'm overjoyed."

Lorelei had not wanted to wear clothes. Not any of them. Since she was just a month old she would pull and struggle until she weaseled out of her clothes somehow. It wasn't until she was nearly two that some servant had found her naked, again and since they could not find her dress, they put her in a ratty pair of breeches and a stained tunic that she maintained nearly constant coverage.

Every so often, some servant or another would sprint off into the direction of screeching giggles with a towel in hand to cover the naked child up. As if on cue, Lorelei darted into the dressing room they were in. She wore a pair of breeches several sizes too large and with holes in them. They were held up by a bit of ribbon alone. Her tunic was hanging off one shoulder and had what Cora prayed was mud on it. No shoes, naturally. The only bright side was that she had finally grown hair on her bald head. It was a short silver mop at best. When considering forcing her to grow it longer had been mentioned, the siren spawn immediately cut what she could with a kitchen knife. So she would likely keep her hair short, at least if Cora had it trimmed it looked better than the toddlers hack job.

Regina giggled excitedly and jumped up and down when Lorelei stopped in front of her, breathing heavily. "Lorelei! Look at my dress! Do you think it's pretty?"

Lorelei looked at her dress and then down at herself before wiping her runny nose on her shirt and then replied, "it's very pretty Regina. But I like my clothes better."

Regina giggled and hugged the siren tightly until Cora pulled them apart. "Regina! Must you touch her? She's filthy and likely has some sort of illness. Look at her nose! She's ill."

Regina looked at her mother and then at her guardian, then shrugged, "she looks fine to me. Her nose always is snotty after she races the horses."

Cora was confused. "Races the horses? Have you been riding horses Lorelei?" Surely such a small child couldn't hold onto a horse well enough to race it.

Both girls laughed loudly, making Cora grimace at the noise. "No, mother! She doesn't ride them! Lorelei doesn't much like the horses. She slaps their behind and races them to the fences!"

Coras mouth dropped open in shock. "Why would you do that?! Who is supposed to be watching you?"

Lorelei shrugged and wiped her nose again as Red slid into the room. She was at least in a dress even if it was stained and of poor material. "Lorelei! Wow! You beat the black stallion this time! I thought Tessa was gonna pass out!"

Cora pinched the bridge of her nose in irritation. Tessa, that was the woman who was supposed to keep an eye on the siren. "Nah, she was fine. I made sure she wouldn't fall down again." Lorelei looked so proud.

"What did you do?" Cora was curious as she walked to the window over looking the stables.

"Lorelei tied her to the stable pole so she wouldn't fall down. Last time she raced the horses, Tessa passed out and hit her head." Red looked proud of her friend too.

Cora looked down as two stable men assisted the one who must be Tessa into a sit position and fetched her water. Meanwhile, Cora noted, the large black stallion was rearing up as three more stable men tried to tame him. He was sweaty and rolling his eyes.

"Lorelei, do not do this again. You're going to kill the horses. Henry would be most displeased if you did." Cora sat back down and pulled her daughter out of a fierce hug between her and the other two girls. "Stop hugging!"

Lorelei and Red squealed in laughter as they tore out of the room again. Regina managed two steps before Cora caught her. "No. You are going to learn to wear proper clothing. No more playing today."

Regina groaned, and looked off towards the laughter in the hall. "Can I play with them tomorrow?"

Cora sighed heavily. She needed to prepare her daughter. On the other hand, a break from mothering would be delightful… "Fine. If you behave and do as I say today, you can play tomorrow. But…!" Cora said as Regina bounced around happily. "But, no horses Regina. They're dangerous. Ladies and queens ride in carriages for a reason."

Regina groaned but agreed. Anything to get to go play tomorrow!

…..

The only sound in her ears was the wind and the pounding of hooves on the forest floor. She felt so free, so alive! Nothing was ever better than speeding through the forest on Rocinante. Her father had given her this beautiful horse, no matter how much Cora hated it. Regina had ridden everyday that her mother did not force royal lessons on her. She was thirteen years old, and to Regina, that sounded very much grown up. She didn't want to be a queen anyway. She just wanted to ride through the forest with the wind in her hair.

She saw the clearing ahead and reluctantly pulled Rocinante to a slower trot. She jumped down once she reached the deep creek running through the clearing. She let him drink as she splashed water on her face. It was so very quiet out here, so far from the manor. Almost too quiet…

A low growl made Regina spin around. A large black wolf slowly crept towards her. Each step it took it released a small growl. When it was only an arms length from her, Regina put her hand up and shouted, "Oh no! A wolf!"

Laughter broke through the silence as Lorelei jumped out from behind a bush. "Regina! That was the worst acting I have ever seen or heard!"

Regina put her hands on her hips and gave her guardian a wiry look. "Well forgive me, but Red has a piece of twig in her big bad wolf teeth! It's distracting."

The wolf perked it's ears up and then shifted into the form of their friend Red. She started picking at her teeth and spitting out bits of leaf and twig. "It's not my fault!" Red shouted and threw a rock at the laughing Lorelei. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to run with your mouth closed when you're a wolf?!"

Lorelei finally let her laughter subside, wiping tears away. "I'm sorry Red. But how am I supposed to get used to protecting Regina from big bad scary things, if the only scary thing I know is you and you have a tree in your mouth?"

Regina was trying hard to keep her composure but started really laughing when Red launched herself at Lorelei and the two began play wrestling in the grass. They were a fair match really. Lorelei was strong and lean, and so was Red. Whatever Lorelei was must be close to werewolf, because they seemed the same. Of course, Lorelei had the silver eyes and hair, Red just had brown hair and eyes.

Regina finally regained herself and whistled loudly. "Now stop you two. Really, can't you go five minutes without fighting?"

The two girls disentangled themselves and instead starting stripping off their clothes to play in the creek. Regina bit her lip and desperately wanted to swim also. "Come on Regina. Your mother can't see you here." Lorelei said with a brilliant smile.

Regina thought about it, but Red threw water at her, making her jump back to not get her riding clothes wet. Mother hated these clothes, but they were of fine material, so she would be mad if Regina ruined them. "If you do not take off your pretty clothes, we will throw you in with them on." Red called at her.

Mind made up, Regina quickly peeled her riding outfit off and jumped in the creek. After all, either she ruins her clothes, or does not. It was an easy answer!

After swimming most of the day, the three finally admitted they were hungry. Red was too clumsy to catch anything and Lorelei didn't like killing animals, so they went back to the manor. Red and Lorelei easily jogged beside Regina on Rocinante. She wished she could run like them, but she just couldn't. They could run for hours at full speed and barely be winded. She would run for a half hour and fall over panting. She stopped trying to keep up with them physically long ago however. They were something other than human, and she was not. Instead she proved her worth with knowledge. The garbage her mother forced on her was useless outside of a court, but she had access to a library full of the most interesting things.

As they neared the manor, Red and Lorelei both stopped and Lorelei reached up to Rocinante, stopping him also. Regina listened and looked, but she couldn't see anything wrong. "What is it?"

"I don't know. It feels bad. Something in the air, like it's charged." Red said, a shiver passing thru her.

Lorelei looked up to Regina, "something is wrong Regina. Come down, let me walk you. Red can take the horse to the stables."

Regina accepted Lorelei's hand down from the horse and watched as Red quietly led her horse away. Holding tightly to Lorelei's hand, they headed for the front door. As they entered the door, Cora was on her feet instantly, she bore down on Regina so quickly, Regina stumbled back into the wall, Lorelei's hand slipping out of hers.

"Where have you been?!" Cora shouted. Without giving her a chance to respond Cora pressed towards her, breath on Regina's face. "I have been looking everywhere for you! For hours, Regina! You missed your luncheon with Prince Terrione!"

Regina cringed, she had forgotten entirely. Instead she had gone riding with Red and Lorelei. "Mother, I forgot, I'm s…"

"Do not tell me you are sorry! How are you ever going to be good enough for a prince if you cannot remember one luncheon?" Cora shouted above Regina's words.

Henry tried to step in, but as usual he went unheard and was told to stay out of it. As usual, he obeyed Cora and headed towards the kitchens.

Regina felt the tears stinging her eyes, not from Cora's screaming, she was used to that. She knew she could never be good enough for Cora. No, she was on the edge of crying because her father never helped her when Cora came at her. No one would ever defend her from her mother. The woman owned her. Cora was still screaming… "I have spent my entire life preparing you for the throne! How do you repay me? By running off to roll around in the dirt!"

Regina looked at her riding clothes, they were spotless. She was very careful. Frowning she looked at her mother and tried to speak, "Mother, please, my clothes are clean. I only went swimming, I forgot…"

Before Regina even saw it coming, her mothers hand had slapped her soundly across the face. The fierce burn on her lip told her in a daze that her lip was cut and bleeding. She was on the floor, it must have knocked her down. She looked up in absolute fear as her mother came towards her again, raising her hand to strike once more.

She closed her eyes and covered her face, waiting for the blow. But instead of a hit, she heard a crack, like lightening. Opening her eyes, she saw her mother hit the wall on the other side of the entryway, opposite Regina. Standing beside Regina was Lorelei. Her eyes were shining with a silver glow and she held her hand out towards were Cora had been. Taking a deep shuddering breath, Regina stood and took Lorelei's face in her hands. Instantly, the glow went out and she was staring at watery silver eyes.

"Regina, she hurt you…"

Regina nodded and wiped at her friends tears. "It's ok. I'm ok now"

Lorelei shuddered again and gasped as she pulled her shirt sleeve back. On her arm was a shimmering symbol of some sort. Like an ancient rune. They stared at it in fascination, Both touching it tentatively. It felt like the rest of her skin. But aside from Regina's name on her chest, it was the only mark she had.

Cora staggered up from the floor where she had landed. Aside from a migraine, it hadn't hurt so much. She hadn't seen Lorelei actually protect her daughter before. She had forgotten what she actually was. She needed to salvage this quickly.

"Regina…?" Cora called to her softly.

Both girls turned to her with wide eyes. Lorelei stepped in front of Regina. She suddenly looked… stronger, somehow.

Putting her hands up in a defensive gesture, Cora smiled brightly, "Regina, I am deeply sorry I hurt you. I had to." The girls looked skeptical at her. "Let me explain. Lorelei is old enough and strong enough to protect you, but she hasn't been tested. Not really. I had to make sure she could defend you, Regina. What if you ran off to go swimming and someone attacked you?"

Regina took a small step towards her, wanting to believe. "You didn't hit me because you're mad I missed my luncheon?"

Cora laughed lightly, "no dear. Prince Terrione isn't good enough for you. He was just a sort of practice run. He is third in line for his throne. You are going to be a queen." Cora finally came close enough to reach out and take Regina's hands. She nervously saw Lorelei tense up as she touched her daughter. "You scared me, disappearing like that. I had to make sure your guardian was ready to protect you. I am so sorry I hurt you." Cora smiled at her daughter and from the look on Regina's face, she had won. She decided to make sure the damage was repaired by pulling her daughter in and hugging her tightly. The girl always liked hugging and was so eager to be loved. It worked like a charm, every time.

…

Lorelei was pacing their bedchamber as Red and Regina sat on the bed and watched her fuming.

"She hit you! She made you bleed!" Lorelei repeated for the hundredth time. "I should have been able to stop her before she made contact… I have to do better. I have to be better."

Regina had been watching her do this same speech for nearly an hour now. Her lip had long since stopped bleeding, she was fine. Mother was just worried Lorelei couldn't protect her. It was all fine.

Red rolled her eyes and jumped up and stopped Lorelei with hands on her shoulders. She stared in the silver eyes. "Hey, you protected her. You can get faster and better. I will help you. I promise." Red smiled at her then hugged her tightly before forcing her to the massive bed they tended to pile into.

They all arranged themselves and soon fell asleep, holding each other tightly. Lorelei mumbled in her sleep through the night, "I will protect you…"

…..

After that night, not much time was set aside for swimming or just laughing together. The very next morning, Lorelei and Red started learning the weapons lying around the manor. This left Regina to focus on her studies, so Cora was thrilled to support them. She sent word out and got two swordsmen to come to the manor and teach the girls weapons.

The first session was mostly the swordsmen getting the girls to stop swinging wildly at each other. Fortunately, they were using practice wooden swords so other than bruises, they didn't get hurt.

Two weeks passed like this. Red and Lorelei were quickly gaining in their abilities and Regina was absorbing everything Cora force fed her. The three of them were just laying down to sleep when Red threw down a pillow and growled, stopping them halfway to covering up. "This is ridiculous. We've been working too hard."

Lorelei stared at her, bewildered. "Ah, okay… What precisely would you like to do about that?"

Red crawled on the bed slowly, grinning like… well like a wolf. She slowly crept toward the two sitting there, staring at her like she had grown three heads. "Let's run!"

Regina shook her head quickly, "no. Absolutely not. Mother would be furious!"

Red turned her wolfish grin to Lorelei, "she won't find out. If she does, Lorelei would protect you from her anyway."

At this, the siren visibly flexed her muscles, crawling up by Red and creeping with her towards Regina. "I'll protect you. But I don't think she'll know. Come on!"

Regina chewed her lip. She wanted to but… She was about to say no again but the other two were nearly on top of her whispering encouragement. Finally she let out a long breath and put a hand on each of their faces, mushing their heads together and squishing their faces. "Okay!"

The three girls jumped up from the bed and quickly changed from bed clothes to Thick breeches and shirts. The nights were getting cooler and they had no intention of freezing. Red was ready first, opening the room window and looking down into the night. She glanced back at Regina, "do you think you can climb down?"

Regina stopped after tying her boots on. "Oh… we can't use the door?"

Lorelei laughed while trying to get her long shirt on. She hated these cold clothes, there was more to them and she hated the lightest kinds of clothes. She always got tangled in all this fabric. She stopped laughing as she became increasingly more tangled. Eventually the other two were giggling at her. Red finally gave in and decided to help her. She pushed and pulled and twisted the fabric, occasionally earning a pained sound from Lorelei. Finally the girls arms shot thru the sleeves and Red pulled one more time and her head popped thru the top. Caught off balance and suddenly free, Lorelei fell forward, coming nose to nose with Red.

Red blushed furiously and cleared her throat jumping back quickly. Lorelei tilted her head, obviously confused, but decided to shake it off. She turned to Regina as she attempted to make her shirt more comfortable. "Regina, we can't sneak out using the door. We have to go out the window so no one knows we left."

Regina nodded but then looked out the window and shook her head instead. "I can't do that. I'll fall. I'm sorry. Why don't the two of you go and I'll stay here."

Red had collected herself by now and grabbed Regina by the arms, looking in her eyes, "we won't let you fall Regina. We would never do that." Regina looked away, obviously scared, but Red tilted her head back up. "Hey, we will never let you fall Regina. Not ever."

Regina swallowed hard but the sincere look in Red's eyes made up her mind. "Okay. Okay…"

Red squealed and her and Lorelei looked out the window, each one frowning in thought. Finally, Red snapped her fingers and whispered into the sirens ear. Lorelei grinned wickedly and nodded.

Regina watched curiously as Red shifted to her wolf and jumped out the window. Lorelei looked down and nodded before turning back to Regina. "Come on. We got you."

Regina steeled herself for whatever ridiculous idea her friends had cooked up. She stood at the window and Lorelei climbed out, holding onto the ledge and hanging down. "Regina, climb down me."

Her jaw dropped and she crossed her arms, "no. I'll fall and die. Or worse, I won't die and mother will kill me."

There was a muffled giggle from the siren as she hung on. "Don't make me laugh or we'll both fall. Trust me, climb down me; I'm easier to hang on to than the wall. Red is stretched to my feet, you can climb from me to her."

Regina finally gave in to her friend. It was only the second story, maybe she wouldn't die, just break her arm… or leg… or whatever. She slowly crawled out over Lorelei, clinging very tightly to the thick shirt. With her feet on the womans hips, Regina looked down and saw two yellow eyes waiting for her. If it wasn't Red, it would be terrifying to see staring at her from the dark pit below. She took a deep breath and reached her foot down, trying to hit Lorelei's knee. She missed, then she panicked, and then she grabbed Lorelei's short hair instead of her shirt. The silver haired girl squealed in pain and lost her footing. Her foot slid off the wall and landed on Red's snout.

Red growled, but didn't drop down. If she did Regina would definitely fall. Instead of letting down, Red pushed upwards, lifting Lorelei's leg back up and letting Regina reach it with her foot. Regina readjusted and released Lorelei's hair and started climbing down again. Once she had her legs around the wolf, Red brought herself back down onto all fours. Lorelei dropped down rubbing her head.

"Stay there Regina, Red can take you through the woods. You can't see when it's this dark." Lorelei explained as she pushed Regina back up to Red's back.

Regina frowned down at her, "you can see in the dark?"

Lorelei nodded, "like it's day."

At that, Red darted off towards the woods. Regina yelped and clung tightly to the wolf fur in her hands. She could see flashes of Lorelei running beside them every now and then. She had gotten more runes as she trained with the weapons. Most of her right forearm was covered in the intricate silver designs. They seemed to glow in the darkness. They raced thru the woods, Regina had no idea where they were or where they were going, and she didn't care. Red could run so fast. Faster than Rocinante.

They finally broke thru the trees and Regina sat upright on Reds back. She gasped as she looked up. The trees had been blocking them, but now they were far more than could be counted. As Red stopped, Regina slid down and Red shifted back to normal again. Her and Lorelei each took one of Reginas hands and led her to the river.

They sat and they talked for hours. They laughed and pushed each other playfully. Regina told the other two stories she had read in the library. They didn't like reading, but they would listen to her tell them things she read forever. She felt so happy as she laid her head on Reds stomach, staring up at the stars and listening to the river. Lorelei had fallen silent awhile ago and Regina glanced down to her own stomach where her head was. Her shining silver eyes were closed. She smiled and tried to memorize this feeling. Somehow she knew she might never get this again.

….

Cora watched from her mirror as the three girls made more noise than normal getting ready. The servants had tried to go investigate but Cora had stopped them. She wanted to know exactly what they were doing. She didn't encourage this behavior from Regina, but information was worth paying a price such as allowing her to 'sneak' out. Cora watched and rolled her eyes more than once at them trying to be clever; thinking she wouldn't know.

When Red helped the siren conquer her shirt, Cora raised a brow at the young wolfs reaction. Obviously, she had a puppy crush on the siren. Nodding in thought, Cora locked that bit of information away for another time. She jumped a bit when Regina slipped, but then they righted themselves again and she resettled, frowning in displeasure. If Regina got hurt, she'd kill both the other two herself.

She watched as they ran thru the woods, her magic mirror barely able to keep up with them. Pursing her lips, she considered how advanced Red and Lorelei had become so quickly. She listened to their conversations as she sipped her tea. Very interesting things they found to discuss. Apparently, there was a new stable boy that Regina couldn't stop going on about…


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The girls woke up shivering, except Red who just ran hot. Regina jumped up and scared the other two awake. "It's dawn! Mother will be in to wake us any moment!"

Red shifted and crouched so Regina could climb on and she bolted, racing thru the forest. Lorelei tripped over herself a few times before she sprinted after them. It was hard to catch Red, but she did, sliding thru the forest next to her. They shot to the wall under their window and Red stretch up with Regina standing on her head practically clawing up the wall. Lorelei jumped up and grabbed the window with one hand, pulling Regina in with the other. Regina slid to the floor just inside, but the other two didn't know that so they hopped in and landed on top of her. They quickly became a tangle of limbs and were tripping on each other.

Cora opened the door and watched them flailing on the floor for a few moments before clearing her throat loudly. The girls looked up and froze. Regina spoke first, "Mother, uhm, we were just ah…"

Red covered her mouth with a hand, feeling a bad lie coming on and spoke for her. "Good morning! My goodness you look lovely today my lady! We were just trying to get Lorelei into a bath this morning. She isn't cooperating though. You know how she is!"

The siren looked indignantly at her friend and opened her mouth to deny such allegations (After all she hadn't fought very hard at bath time for at least two years) but Regina covered her mouth quickly catching on to Reds tale. "Yes! Lorelei is to take a bath! She's such a fighter…"

Cora smirked at them. Rolling her eyes she decided not to even bother. She waved a hand at them and said, "fine, get her a bath and then meet me in the study after you get breakfast. We must discuss our trip to the castle town tomorrow."

As soon as Cora closed the door Lorelei licked Reginas hand causing her to release her mouth and push herself out of the pile up. "Ew! Did you have to do that?"

Lorelei laughed as she stood herself up, "yes. You shouldn't cover peoples mouths Regina. It's simply unladylike."

Red snorted in laughter as Regina wiped her hand furiously on her pants. "You really should know better Regina."

Rolling her eyes, Regina looked smugly at Lorelei, "it's fine. I will just wash it off in Lorelei's bath water."

The laughter and smile falling off her face very quickly, Lorelei stared at her friends in turn, "it's not bath day. That was a lie."

Red cocked a brow at her, "well yeah, but now if you don't smell like soap, Cora will know we lied."

Regina pointed to the washroom and dared her to walk away. But, of course, they were right, so she stomped her way to the tub room while tugging her clothes off. She flung them all over the room as she went, just for spite.

Red seemed suddenly uncomfortable and excused herself saying she needed to go check in with granny for breakfast. Regina smiled and shook her head at Red's blush but decided to ignore it. She would tell her when she was ready. Instead of bothering Red, she headed to the washroom, shrugging out of her own clothes on the way. Lorelei stood by the tub and watched as the water pipe poured the water into the basin. It would be cold, this early in the morning, but at least it wasn't freezing yet. In winter time they had fire baskets to put under the tubs but only Cora used those year round.

Eventually the tub was filled and Regina pushed at her to get in it. She did and sat there looking miserable at best. Regina laughed and gathered the soaps and washing rags from the shelves before putting them beside the tub and climbing in also.

Once Regina was in the water too, Lorelei gave in and started washing. They took turns washing each others backs and hair. Lorelei used to pitch an absolute wrestle match battle at bath time. It used to take five or more servant women to get her submerged in the tub as she yelled at them. She wouldn't hurt them so eventually they would win. Finally when they were about seven years old, Regina told them all to go away and she coaxed her into the tub herself. So long as she got in first, Lorelei would cooperate. Not happily mind you. But eventually they just bathed together.

The moment the soap was out of her hair, Lorelei bounced out of the water, quickly rubbing herself vigorously with a towel to dry. Regina giggled again, but rinsed her own hair thoroughly before climbing out, much more calmly. "I still don't understand why you hate the bath. You've no problem swimming in a river or lake for hours."

Lorelei grimaced, "that water is flowing and changing. This tub water is just sitting there. How can that make you clean? Just sitting there in your own filth? It's like someone is making Lorelei soup and I just sit there and baste myself in my own dirt. It's vile."

Regina laughed and finished drying herself off before going to the wardrobe to find clean clothes. She saw her friend picking up the grass stained clothes off the floor. "No, you put on clean clothes or you'll have another washing tomorrow."

Lorelei dropped the clothes to the floor again, growling under her breath, but she did go get fresh clothes from her chest of drawers.

….

The trips to castle town were usually interesting, but not very much so. Cora spent most of the time forcing Regina to pick out fine fabrics for dresses and she wasn't allowed to relax just in case a random visiting prince happened to look her way. She had to keep her chin up and back straight the entire time. Of course, Lorelei helped to keep her entertained. Always commenting and how strangely people looked at her and her silver marks.

"Yes, I'm the strange one sir. Of course you shouldn't speak about people so, considering your chin is shaped like my…"

"Lorelei!"

The siren jumped and the man she was insulting huffed and stormed off. Regina gave her a very disapproving look, but based on the grin the woman gave back, she knew she was holding in her laughter.

Cora released a long suffering sigh. "Oh how I wish I could leave you at the manor."

Lorelei waited until Cora turned her back to stick her tongue out at the woman. Regina did giggle this time, "stop that. One day she will leave you behind."

Flicking at some hanging trinket, Lorelei just shrugged, "she could try. I would simply run here. I won't leave you alone, especially with that hell hound."

Regina slapped her arm and was about to remind her that 'hell hound' was her mother and the reason they had ever met, but Cora called to her excitedly to come see something. The girls caught up and looked thru the castle fencing with Cora.

In the massive palace courtyard there was an older man playing with a small girl with raven hair and the palest skin they'd ever seen. "Who are they?" Regina asked.

Cora smiled and told her in a hushed voice, "That is king Leopold, from the White kingdom, and his daughter Snow." Cora licked her lips and whispered to Regina, "his wife, the poor thing, she died only a month ago. He has taken his daughter traveling to help them heal. It won't be long til he is looking to remarry."

Regina nodded until her mother finished and then looked at her in confusion, "are you thinking…? Mother! That man is old enough to be my father! His daughter can't be more than six years younger than I!"

Cora huffed in annoyance with her daughter, but was biting her cheek in thought. Of course, Regina was only thirteen. It would be at least five years before she should marry. Well, three years if a king proposed...


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

As the days went by, the three girls grew into women and with that transition comes all sorts of new problems. Regina was spending most of her time learning from scholars and royal advisors. She tried her best to please her mother, but every day she found new reasons her mother couldn't be happy enough with her. Her hair wasn't soft enough, her legs weren't long enough. She loved riding horses, hated carriages. But Regina tried so hard. She excelled at her studies since that was easy for her and seemed to make Cora nod in approval. The moment she was told to be done for the day, she would sneak off to the stables. She said it was to tend to Rocinante, but really she went to take riding lessons from the stable boy there.

Cora knew Regina wasn't in need of lessons, but she allowed it. Regina seemed to try harder if she thought there would be free time to spend with her boy after her duties were done. Eventually, Regina would need to be cut away from him but for now, it was allowed. Cora did however take Lorelei aside to remind her of her duties.

The sirens silver eyes were as wide as they could go and she was pale. The shiver she felt had nothing to do with the weather. "Why?!" She had shouted this question many times in the last hour as Cora spoke to her.

Cora closed her eyes and counted to ten to try and keep her temper in check. "Because, you idiotic thing, that is how humans reproduce!"

Lorelei ran a shaky hand thru her short hair and was breathing heavy, trying not to get sick. "That's… that's the most disgusting thing I have ever heard of in my life!"

Cora threw her hands up, "How do you not already know all of this? My god child, you are fifteen years old! Surely someone has explained all this to you by now?" Regina had been given extensive lessons in the human reproductive system. She knew how women got pregnant and she knew that a woman who had sex before marriage was absolute trash and worthless. This conversation with Lorelei was only supposed to take five minutes. All she had needed to tell her was to make sure that filthy peasant wasn't allowed to touch anything below the waist on her daughter. The questions had started rolling off her lips halfway thru Cora's very simple instructions. 'what would he be touching?' 'Why would he want to touch that?!' 'Why would Regina want him to do that?' Of course once the basic questions stopped, the intense ones began. 'Stick what in where?' 'But there is nothing he could stick in there!' 'Boys have a what?!' 'What does it look like?'

Shrugging, Lorelei was still trying to get past the part where Cora told her boys have some giant dangling finger between their legs. "I don't know, I guess I never asked?"

Cora shook her head violently, "done. Very done. Stay right here." Cora made sure she would stay and headed to the hall way. She grabbed the first servant she found and told them to find Regina. The servant looked terrified but had to tell her Regina was out on a riding lesson and wouldn't be back for some time. Cora ground her teeth and finally told her to go get Red then. She waited impatiently but before long the lanky peasant came skidding around the corner. She gasped and toppled onto her backside when she nearly ran into Cora. With a displeased frown, Cora waited for her to right herself before speaking. "Do you know how babies are made?"

Red cocked her head and looked around warily, "uhm… yes? I mean, I'm not five…"

Cora grabbed her arm and shoved her into the room with a very sick looking Lorelei sitting on a chair. "Good. Explain it to your friend. She, apparently, missed the conversation!" With that, Cora slammed the door and walked away quickly.

Red stared at the closed door for a bit then slowly turned to Lorelei who was staring blankly at the wall. "Son of a bitch…" Red muttered.

It took nearly another hour for Lorelei to run out of questions for the very red faced Red. Eventually, the woman seemed to understand fully. She stood and stretched and looked down at Red sitting in the chair, "well, I am absolutely certain that I will never let a man have sex with me."

Red giggled, "you don't have to, I promise."

Smiling she said, "can you have sex with women?"

Red stopped giggling very suddenly. She felt her face grow hotter and took a few deep breaths to clear her mind. "Uhm, yes. It works a lot differently though… obviously."

"How so?"

Red stood up shaking her head. "No, I cannot explain that to you. I'm not even sure, actually."

Lorelei nodded, "so have you ever had sex with a man or woman?"

Red thought she would very much like to run away right now, but no, she couldn't do that to her friend. "No. I haven't."

"Do you want to?"

Red stared at her friend, trying desperately to decide how she meant that question. Was she asking if she wanted to with someone, sometime? Or was she asking her if she wanted to with her? Finally she spoke again, choosing her words carefully. "I would like to, someday. Not with a man though, maybe with someone I loved very much. Someone I knew very well. I think it would be a very nice thing… to do."

Lorelei nodded and smiled at her, completely naïve to her friends struggle. "Yes, I think I would like to try it someday also. With a woman I think. Must I court her first? Because I don't want to."

Red was laughing again, her friend always made her laugh even when she was stressed beyond all reason. "I don't know. I think you should just trust that it'll happen naturally. Just sort of wait for the perfect time and I think you'll know when you found the right one."

Lorelei smiled at her and pulled her in for a hug. She held her for a few moments more than she usually did and when she let her go she was still smiling. Red was looking at her strangely. She glanced at her lips and then back to her eyes.

Red couldn't believe her heart was still working. It was beating so hard and fast in her chest she thought she should have died by now. Here she was, arms wrapped around Lorelei and she was just looking at her with her charming eyes. Red glanced at her friends lips and thought she might actually kiss her finally, but it wasn't the time apparently.

Lorelei released her and turned to the door, "I need to go find Regina. I should make sure Daniel doesn't try to impregnate her until they are married."

Red let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. Some day maybe she could stop being so chicken. But not today. Her heart was still beating too hard. She told Lorelei to go ahead and sat heavily back in the chair. She leaned forward and held her head in her hands. She was ridiculously in love with her friend. She wasn't sure how or when it had happened, but she very much was. She finally left the room and went to find her grandmother. Maybe she knew how to approach someone…

Lorelei raced thru the woods and found Regina easily. She could always run a straight line right to her. Regina had suggested the names on their chests bound them and gave her that ability. She stopped just short of the horses tied to the tree. She could see Regina and Daniel. They were kissing. Lorelei waited quietly, thinking she shouldn't interrupt them. She watched as they kissed, frowning at how they held each other and had their eyes closed. It did look like they enjoyed it. Maybe she should try kissing someone. She was deep in thought when the couple caught her eye again. Daniel had his hands on Regina's lower back, but one of them was slowly shifting downwards.

He reached just below her hip, his hand was right on her butt and Lorelei jumped up and shouted, "HEY!"

The couple sprang apart and stared wide eyed in fear towards Lorelei. Regina saw her and nearly collapsed from the shock she had. "Lorelei! Why would do that? You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

Lorelei puffed herself up, shoulders back, head up and walked towards them. Staring at Daniel as he swallowed hard and back away until his back hit a tree. He had his hands up in defense. "Lorelei, I wasn't hurting her I swear it!"

Regina put her hands on her hips and watched her guardian thru narrowed eyes. She knew Lorelei wouldn't hurt him. "She knows you didn't hurt me. She would have felt it and blasted you into next week if you had."

Lorelei got close to the poor boy and looked him up and down in a threatening manner. "I have been informed that boys try to impregnate women before marriage."

Regina blushed and pinched the bridge of her nose "Lorelei, what are you talking about?"

Glancing at Regina, Lorelei pointed to Daniels crotch area, "there's a penis in there Regina. He has one, probably."

She could not possibly have blushed any harder. "Yeah, I imagine he does. Thank you for that."

Daniel smiled shyly, "you imagine it?"

Regina frowned hard at him and his shy smile, "that is not what I meant and you know it." She turned her attention back to Lorelei. "Who told you all these things?"

Staring Daniel in the eye an inch from his face, she said, "boys think about sex all the time Regina. You must be wary or they will try to impregnate you."

"Oh my god!" Regina grabbed her friend and drug her away from the very uncomfortable Daniel. "Stop it, right now. Who talked to you about all these things?"

She gave Daniel a final glare before smiling at Regina, "your mother. But she wasn't very good at answering questions, so she made Red explain everything."

Regina was laughing in spite of her anger. "Oh, poor Red. I can't believe she survived it."

"Why wouldn't Red survive? She explains everything to me."

"Because…" Regina pursed her lips. She couldn't tell her Red had a massive crush on her since about birth. "Because she doesn't like talking about this sort of thing. When we were taught all about it she never stopped blushing and I thought she got sick later."

Lorelei threw up her hands, "you took a class together? Where was I? I could have learned this too!"

Regina raised a brow at her, "we were 13. You were told you had to go to a class and you ran off screaming and throwing things until the servants left you alone. I guess they didn't feel like trying to convince you. Red and I were going to come get you but mother insisted we sit and learn and not worry about you. As I recall, after the class, Red went to her chambers to be sick and you were passed out from eating a bag of Granny's sugar."

Nodding in agreement, "I remember. Granny was so mad at me when I woke up. I tried to save some for the two of you but ended up eating the whole pound of it."

Regina laughed, "yeah. Well, I need to re-educate you I see." She turned to Daniel, "you should probably head back. I just feel like this is going to take some time."

Daniel smiled sweetly and made a move to come kiss her good bye but Lorelei growled at him loudly. "Move along boy! No one here wants your babies!"

Regina covered her face and apologized to him again before he said it was alright and rode off towards the manor again. Taking her friends hand she moved them to sit on a log and took a deep breath before explaining everything all over again. Apparently, Cora had basically told her that boys would stick their thing in any woman they came across and then high tail it to another town when the girl got pregnant. Red had told her that they would do that, and also that it would hurt very badly the first twenty or so times that a man and woman had sex.

Finally, it seemed to have been made clear and Regina finished with, "so. I know why you're concerned. But, I swear to you, I would never have sex before Daniel and I were married."

Lorelei smiled at her. She wasn't going anywhere near a man, but Regina seemed to want to. "Okay. When are you getting married?"

Regina blushed and looked around quickly before whispering, "we are going to run away together. Just as soon as he has saved enough money to marry me and build us a home."

Panic set in very quickly, "run away? Where are you going? How far away? When will you come back?"

Regina grabbed her face and met those silver eyes, "you're coming with us dummy."

Sighing in relief Lorelei added, "Red too?"

Smiling Regina nodded and stood to get her horse, "of course."

Lorelei was quiet for awhile as they walked back to the house. Finally she nodded as she seemed to come to a conclusion. "We can go with you and Daniel, and I will marry Red."

Regina grinned at her naïve friend, "I think maybe you should try courting her and asking her before you decide you're getting married dear."

Lorelei waved off the suggestion, "nah, Red said you don't have to court someone if you have known them awhile and you get along well enough. You can go straight to kissing and then get married and have sex. And before you ask, you can totally have sex with women also. Red said so."

Regina laughed at the thought that Lorelei hadn't really heard Red at all. "Maybe you should make sure you want to marry her before telling her though. You should spend time with her."

"We practice swords and hand to hand fighting all the time. The only time we're really apart is when I have to bathe. She won't bathe with me, I keep asking but she just blushes and refuses to talk anymore. She won't go swimming anymore either. It's been annoying, but that's fine."

Regina sighed and decided she was going to have to take matters into her own hands. Red was obviously not willing to make a move and this woman didn't know what the hell a move was.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Cora watched thru her mirror as Regina and the stable boy held each other. They had gotten very close, apparently. She kept an eye on them when she could, but as usual, the mirror image started to blur and eventually blinked out entirely. That happened when ever Lorelei came into the picture. The older the siren got, the more she interfered with Cora's magic. But, as long as she was with Regina, there was no worry that Regina would be able to do anything to damage her value to a king.

The boy was a problem now that Regina was sixteen. It was time for her to become the queen Cora had bred her to be. She had nearly all of the plans in place and it would only be a matter of days before they were set into motion. She had decided to give Regina a chance to do the right thing. If her daughter chose not to, well, then Cora had a few other plans that she would set in motion.

….

Granny looked worried as Red stepped into the kitchens. She took a seat at the stool and waited for her breakfast. "Granny? Why do you look so worried?"

Shaking herself back to attention, the grandmother quickly put Red's food on a plate and gave it to her. "Something happening around here. I can feel it."

Red ate slowly but nodded eventually, "yeah. I can feel it too. Lorelei has been pacing and biting her nails for a week, so I think she feels it too."

Granny nodded and decided to push ahead. No need to coddle her grand daughter anymore, she was old enough to handle change now. "We're leaving soon."

Red dropped her biscuit and stared at the woman, "what do you mean leaving?"

"It's getting tense around here, dangerous. Every bone in my body has been telling me to get away from here for awhile now. It's time we took our leave Red."

Shaking her head, Red stood and looked her grand mother in the eye, "I'm not leaving them. I can't. If you want to go, that's fine, I understand. But, granny please, I can't leave them."

Sighing, she knew this was going to be tough for the girl, "Red, they will be fine. One way or the other, they will be alright. Hell, I would take Lorelei with us if I thought she would leave Regina. But, you know she is bound to her. Those names on their hearts tell me they won't ever part ways."

Red shook her head again, crossing her arms. "No. I may not have a magic tattoo but they are my friends and I am just as bound to them as they are to each other. I won't go."

Taking her hands, Granny tried once more to make her grand daughter see reason. "Listen to me, you are free to do whatever you want Red. They were born for tragedy, since the day I laid eyes on them as infants I have known that. You are not, Red. You can leave this place and we can go live a decent life somewhere far from Cora. That mad woman is setting up a perfect storm. I don't want you to get caught up in it. If we don't leave now, I don't think we will be able to avoid being swept up in all of their lives."

Red squeezed the older womans hands in comfort, "I know. I do. But I'd happily be caught in a storm than be without them."

Granny sighed again and resumed her cooking. It was no use, but she did try. "Fine. Have it your way pup. But don't come crying to me when it all blows up and singes your fur."

Red smiled and left the kitchens. She shifted as she hit the tree line, following Lorelei's scent. She could always find her friend, no matter where she went. She ran until she was close then shifted back so she didn't startle Daniel. He didn't know about the wolves at the manor house and she didn't want him to know.

Regina and Daniel were sitting off by a creek, cuddling and whispering. He only had about a year left before he had enough savings to start their life together. Lorelei could hear their plans, but didn't disturb them. She just leaned against a tree and watched them. The more she saw how happy they were, the more she wanted to be happy with someone too.

Red quietly sat beside Lorelei and took her hand to hold. Regina had told her if she didn't do something soon, she would simply tell Lorelei about Red being in love with her. She didn't know what to do though. Her friend seemed oblivious to any flirting she tried. She tried winking at her once and Lorelei had spent the better part of ten minutes pulling her eye open because she thought a bug must have flown into it.

As they sat and watched Regina and Daniel, Red felt her heart swell with longing to hold Lorelei like that. To kiss her like that. She finally decided it was time. She was gonna do it. Right now…

Lorelei turned to Red and jumped a bit. Red was staring at her in a creepy predatory manner, frowning and nearly growling. When she met her eyes, Red blushed and quickly looked away again. Confused, Lorelei squeezed her hand and said, "they are leaving in about a year. I want you to come with us. You can bring Granny too, but she's not allowed to yell at me anymore if she comes too."

Red giggled and leaned against her side resting her head on her shoulder. "She isn't going to stop yelling at you until you stop sneaking sweets. I don't know if she will come too, but of course I will."

Lorelei grinned at her and leaned her head against the wild hair of her friends head. "Does that mean you'll marry me?"

Red jumped back and stared at her wide eyed, "what?!"

Lorelei stared back at her, surprised at the reaction. "I want you to marry me. Then we can be married and Regina and Daniel will be married and we can all go do things together and be happy."

Red frowned at her and shook her head, "so you want to marry me because they're going to be married?"

Lorelei shrugged and said in a whimsical tone, "well, no. I want to be married to you so you will stay with me forever. I don't want to lose you to somebody else. And, I also want to kiss you and…"

She didn't get to finish her sentence though because Red finally found her courage. Lorelei fell over from the force of Red pouncing on her, their lips pressed together firmly. There was a moment of shock, and then Red was wrapped in her arms and they had their eyes shut, lips moving against each others tenderly.

When finally they remembered they needed to breath, they broke this kiss and stared into each others eyes. Red was fully on top of her and had her hand on either side of her face, her hair fell around them, making a sort of curtain around their heads. Red smiled down at her and was proud of the flushed look on her face. "Okay."

Breathless still, but not willing to let her go, Lorelei stared into her eyes like she was hypnotized. "Okay what?"

Giggling, Red kissed her again before answering, "I'm going to marry you."

Lorelei's eyebrows shot up and so did she, managing to pick Red up and cradle her like a child. She ran to where Regina was and before Regina could question the sudden outburst Lorelei shouted at her, "SHE IS GOING TO MARRY ME!"

Regina was laughing but managed to stand up and hug her friends. Red had finally gotten out of the hold and was standing on her own again, still blushing furiously. "I kissed her!" She whispered to Regina as they hugged.

Regina laughed again and shook her head, "it took you long enough."

They spent the rest of the day celebrating just being in love. As the sun set that day, they didn't think anything could ever be bad again. Red ignored the increasing pressure in the air, after all, she had her Lorelei now. No matter what happened, they would handle it together. That was good enough for her. Regina was counting the days until they could all run away together. She had worried her mother would stop her, but Lorelei and Red would be with her. They would protect her and Daniel from Cora. Nothing could stop her as long as they were with her.

…

Regina was dressing and preparing for another long day of lessons when her mother came thru the door of her chamber. Regina looked confused as her mother smiled sweetly at her and seemed to be checking her from head to toe. "Mother? Is something wrong?"

Cora shook her head and gestured at her daughters dress, "I don't think this is appropriate clothing for riding dear."

Regina looked at her dress and frowned harder, "I'm not going riding, I have lessons."

Cora smiled again and waved her hand dismissively, "oh dear, you work too hard sometimes. I cancelled your lessons. Go riding, I know how much you love it. Have fun darling."

Regina looked skeptical, "you want me to go riding?"

Cora nodded and reached into her wardrobe, removing her nicest riding outfit. "Yes dear, and wear this. It looks so good on you. I recommend the west fields today dear. The southern fields are flooded from the rains and the wood trails too."

Regina took the clothes and watched as her mother left the room. Maybe she was really allowed to take a day off? She bit her lip and smiled as she hurriedly changed into the riding outfit. If her mother changed her mind, it would be too late because Regina was running for the stables. Lorelei was already there, holding Red's hand and talking to Daniel. When Regina approached they all stepped away from each other and the two girls ran off giggling.

Regina watched as they ran off until Daniel caught her off guard and hugged her tightly, whispering in her ear, "the horses are ready. Come ride with me?"

Blushing at the feeling of his breath on her ear Regina could only nod and mount Rocinante. Together they rode off in the opposite direction as her friends. She figured Daniel wanted some alone time and her friends probably did too.

They rode until they were on a small hill with a single tree in an open field. Daniel tied the reins to the lowest branch and they stood just looking at each other. "Why have you gone thru the trouble of being alone with me?" Regina asked him.

He grinned at her in a manner that said he had a secret. She felt herself inhale sharply and tears formed in her eyes as he slowly lowered himself to one knee, pulling a small box from his pocket. "Regina, I know we already agreed we want to marry, but I wanted to do it properly. Your friends helped me find this for you…" He opened the small box and there was a tiny golden ring with a small diamond mounted crookedly onto it. He cleared his throat as she stared at the ring, "um, well… I couldn't afford to buy you one, so Lorelei went hunting for a stone. She brought back all kinds of rocks and gems, but Red said it had to be a diamond. Eventually she did find one for me. Then Red took me to a man in the village who had apprenticed to a jeweler once a long time ago. It's not the prettiest stone, and I can see why the guy never finished his apprenticeship, but…"

Regina stopped his rambling by dropping down and kissing him passionately. When she pulled back he wiped the tears off her cheeks and she said, "it's perfect. Completely perfect. I will marry you, still." They laughed and Daniel slipped the ring on her finger. She stared at it and they stood up, embracing each other again.

"I'm going to ask your parents for permission to marry you."

Regina pulled back and stared at him in disbelief, "no! My mother would skin you alive, are you crazy?!"

Daniel stood his ground, "if she tries, Lorelei will defend me, I asked her for permission first and… well… eventually she agreed. Then she told me when I spoke to Cora and Henry, she would go with me to make sure your mother didn't throw me out a window."

"Lorelei gave you permission to marry me?"

Daniel laughed at the memory, "yes. I figured your parents won't approve, but I'm going to marry you no matter what they say. Lorelei however is your guardian and I feel like she gets to decide whether she will let me into our marital bed sooo…"

Regina laughed with him, "well, I'm certainly glad she said yes so easily."

Daniel snorted and looked at her with an exhausted sigh, "oh it was not easy. She bargained for you." Regina cocked a brow at him so he went on, "well, she said that if she allows me to marry you, then she probably won't be allowed to sleep next to you anymore because you will want to sleep with me. Now, as you can imagine, this is a big loss on her part. I had to find Red to assure her that she would sleep with her instead and once Red agreed to sleeping with her every night, not just sometimes like they do now, mind you, Lorelei agreed to allow it. Then, I had to swear that I would let you bathe with her because she can't reach her own back."

Regina was laughing as he spoke. "Did she not consider that Red would bathe with her once they are married?"

Daniel shook his head, "never occurred to her. Is Red sure she loves her? She seems really difficult."

Regina put her arms around Daniels neck and put her forehead against his, "she can't help but love her, and I can't imagine anyone being more perfect for Lorelei."

They were about to sit and cuddle more when they heard a loud, piercing scream ring out. They pulled away from each other and looked around the field. Regina spotted it first; a white horse was tearing thru the field at full gallop. She could see someone on the back of the horse, hanging on for life. It was a girl and she was quite clearly not in control of her horse.

Regina reacted immediately, mounting Rocinante and heeling him to race off across the field. She laid low on his back, letting him really open up. She was gaining on the white horse, no beast had ever beat Rocinante. Well, except Lorelei and Red of course.

As she raced next to the horse, she realized the rider was a small girl, maybe ten at most. She was crying hard and barely hanging on. Regina shouted to her, "Jump over to me!" The girl shook her head and Regina tried again, "you have to jump to me, I will catch you, I promise!"

The child finally looked Regina in the eye and decided to go for it. She stretched and reached out, Regina took her arm, pulling her onto Rocinante as she reined her horse in, slowing them down. Once they had stopped, Regina slid off and helped the little girl down. The girl was still crying hard and Regina held her close trying to soothe her. As the girl calmed down, five horses came galloping towards them.

Regina hadn't felt afraid this whole time, she knew horses and she knew she could save this girl. But now, now there were armed men racing towards her and she was terrified. There was a crack like lightening beside her and the girl screamed again as Lorelei looked around wildly, "where the hell am i?!" She met eyes with Regina and looked down at the girl clinging tightly to her. "Regina? Who is that? How did I come here?!"

Regina was at a loss and could only hold the child and shrug as the five men reined in in front of them. Lorelei turned and focused on them immediately, staring them down. She was unarmed, but her magic would protect Regina from anything.

The man in the lead slid off his horse and rushed towards Regina and the girl who had her face buried in Regina's now tear soaked clothes. Before he got within arms reach though, Lorelei shot between them and stared him down, a threatening noise coming out of her throat. The man, who was clearly very wealthy based on his attire, stopped and backed up a few paces. The four armed men were his guards and they drew their swords, prepared to fight.

Regina realized this must be the girls father and told Lorelei to stop. The siren didn't move from in front of her, but the girl looked up when Regina yelled and went running to her father's arms instead. Regina put a hand on Lorelei's shoulder, silently telling her it was okay to calm down.

The girl was holding her father tightly and he told his men to sheathe their weapons again. He looked from Lorelei to Regina, looking incredibly relieved. "Which of you saved my daughter?"

Regina stepped beside her guardian, but Lorelei wouldn't let her pass her. "I did. Her horse was at full gallop, she had dropped the reins. My name is Regina."

The man smiled at her, "thank you. On behalf of the entire White kingdom, thank you."

Regina gasped and suddenly took in his clothing and the guards and the sigils on their breast plates. She immediately dipped into a deep and very respectful curtsy, "oh, your majesty! King Leopold! Please forgive me for being rude, I was just in a bit of shock from the rescue. Please, forgive me for not recognizing you!"

Lorelei didn't care who he was. She didn't care if he was King Leopold of the White kingdom. She didn't care if he was the wealthiest man in all the realms. If he came near Regina, she was going to blast him back to his childhood. The guards had their hands on hilts, still very wary of this silver marked creature.

They had seen her appear in a flash of light and magic wasn't something the White kingdom took lightly. The king looked at Lorelei and cleared his throat, speaking to Regina, "my dear, I want to thank you properly, but it seems your friend doesn't approve of us…"

Regina sighed but she knew Lorelei wasn't one to be talked down easily. "Please forgive her majesty, this is Lorelei, my guardian. It's her job to ensure no one harms me."

The king seemed to nod in acceptance. "Well, she certainly seems capable. But I must insist on thanking you properly. I trust you dwell with your parents?"

Regina nodded and cursed herself mentally for not announcing her family sooner. "Yes, majesty. My father is Prince Henry…"

She was interrupted by the king clapping his hands happily, "Ah yes! Of course, I should have made the connection! I know Henry well, we played together as children in his fathers court when my family would come to visit." He laughed and shook his head, obviously remembering fond memories. "how about this? I will give you time to calm your… ah… guardian, and meet you later this evening at your parents manor house? It would be good to catch up with Henry."

Regina nodded and watched as the king mounted his horse and placed his daughter on the horse with him securely. He glanced across the field where the white horse was still trotting around scared. Regina saw his glance and told him, "majesty, I can retrieve the horse for you. I can have her ready for you to take again this evening."

The king grimaced and shook his head, "no. I couldn't possibly trust the beast after today. If you would be so kind as to dispose of the creature though, I would very much appreciate it."

Lorelei finally spoke, "you want to kill it? It was obviously spooked, there is nothing wrong with that animal."

The guards tensed on their mounts again, forever wary of her. The king turned away, dismissing them. "No sense chancing it to happen again. Horses are cheap enough anyway. That one needs put down."

They rode off and Lorelei ground her teeth, turning to Regina angrily, "we are not killing that horse."

Regina gripped her arms firmly and spoke in a soft voice, "no no, of course not. But he will be extremely displeased if he finds out we didn't. Where's Red?"

Lorelei shrugged, but was visibly calmer, "I have no idea. We were chasing each other in the woods and then I felt something in my chest, like an ache and then I was here."

Regina thought on it for a bit as she watched Daniel approaching on his horse. He didn't want to interrupt the meeting between Regina and the mounted men. "Hey, what was all that?"

Regina hugged him and told him everything that had happened. "So, now we have to get that horse somewhere safe without the king finding it again."

Daniel snapped his fingers, smiling brightly, "I know what to do. I can sell it to a trader in the village. He cares for his horses very well, but he travels across the realm. I doubt the king would ever speak to him as he sells pins and pots in the villages. If I give him a cheap price, he won't question it."

Regina agreed and kissed him before he headed off to catch the horse. She mounted Rocinante and her and Lorelei headed home again. She had to alert the house of the impending visit as soon as possible so they could be ready.

On the way home, Red joined them, shifting to yell at Lorelei, "where did you go?! I was running for nearly an hour trying to catch your scent!"

Regina quickly explained to her that it wasn't Lorelei's fault, it was actually hers for sending out some kind of panic alarm that caused Lorelei to appear by magic. Then she told her about the king.

Red chewed her lip, all too aware of the storm still brewing. "Regina, do you think it's wise to invite an unmarried king to your house?"

Regina sighed, "normally, no of course not. My mother would have me wed before I could blink. But, King Leopold used to play with my father. They're practically the same age. His daughter, Snow, is only six years younger than me. Even my mother would not try to force me to wed him. Besides, I wouldn't accept the proposal."

Lorelei nodded happily, "that's right. And if she comes at you, I will filet her like a snake."

They laughed quietly and hurried to the manor house. Red and Lorelei went to the kitchens for food and Regina told her mother all about her days events. Cora seemed unusually calm about meeting the king in her own home, as if it were to be expected. As Regina spoke, Cora made a tea over her small fire and nodded in approval once she smelled it and it seemed done.

She set aside a cup of her tea and told Regina to quickly go put on her finest dress. Regina of course did as she was told, no matter how odd she thought her mother seemed. She was going to accept the thanks of a king and soon, she would be far away from her mother and all the royal nonsense entirely.

…..


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Cora had forced Regina to convince Lorelei and Red to wait in the kitchens for the kings visit. The two women were incredibly irritated, but in the end Red agreed to keep Lorelei there with her. Regina thanked her and rushed to the main room where her mother and father were waiting. She was nervous, but mostly she did not look forward to playing the part of perfect princess for the kings visit. As they waited for the king to arrive, Cora was picking at Henry's clothes, never happy with his appearance.

Finally, a servant rushed in to announce the king arrival. Regina smiled and waited, but Snow rushed in just behind the servant and threw herself at Regina laughing and giggling. "Regina! I'm so happy we got to come see you again! I was worried that I wouldn't get to meet you properly. I was scared earlier and I apologize. I want to tell you all about everything!"

King Leopold entered shortly into his daughters rambling excitement. "Now Snow dear, why don't you go chat with Regina in the other room and I will talk to her parents about what we discussed."

Snow beamed at him and took Regina by the hand, leading her into the sitting room talking fast and gripping Regina's hand tightly. Cora gave her a toothy smile, silently telling her to impress the child. She then turned to the king and he was shaking hands with Henry. "Your majesty, did you say you needed to discuss something with us?"

"Oh yes! Perhaps we could sit and speak freely?" The king suggested.

Cora nodded enthusiastically and gestured to the chairs near the fire. She sent the servants to bring drinks and snacks for everyone and they made small talk while they waited.

"Now, Henry, you and I go back quite a ways so I feel I can speak openly to you." The king took on a somber tone as he leaned back in the chair with his liquor. "My Snow, well, she hasn't been very happy since her mother died. She spends a lot of time just wandering around the gardens alone with her servants. I haven't heard her laugh honestly for years." The king finished his drink and sighed before sitting up and looking at Henry directly. "Until today. Today after your daughter saved her from that horse, she didn't stop smiling and laughing. It filled me with more joy than you can imagine."

Cora leaned in to speak to the king, "Regina has never been happier either. She simply couldn't stopped going on about how adorable Snow was." Cora ignored the confused look from Henry at her lie. "She was so excited waiting for you to come visit."

The king smiled and nodded, "well then maybe this will be easier then I thought. Snow is my entire world. I can admit I spoil her, but she is my little girl and the heir to the kingdom. So, when she asks for something, I use any means necessary to make it happen for her. Today she asked me to give her a new mother. She's lonely and a girl needs a mother. She asked that Regina would be her mother, so I am asking for your daughters hand in marriage."

Henry was staring in shock at the king, "but, Leopold, my daughter is barely older than your own!"

Cora waved her hand behind her back so no one could see and put the usual compliance spell on her husband. "But still, I imagine she will make the perfect wife for you, and the best mother for Snow!" She looked to Henry who nodded and smiled at her, agreeing. "Regina will be thrilled, of course."

The king smiled, accepting the agreement. "I don't want to force Regina into anything, so as long as she accepts my proposal, we can begin making arrangements."

Cora smiled and felt herself beaming inside and out. Regina would accept. She was quite sure of it.

Regina sat and listened politely as Snow went on and on about her life and her pets and all of the wonderful things in her palace. Regina smiled at this carefree child. She was so happy, and obviously lacked any kind of discipline. She didn't mind though, Snow was excited and obviously very happy to be talking to someone. Someday, Regina hoped to have a child even half as happy as Snow.

Something the child had said caught Regina's attention though, "Snow, what did you say about your father?"

Snow seemed to think a moment but then realized what she had said, "oh, it's supposed to be a secret until papa talks to your parents. Please don't tell I told you."

Regina felt her heart racing, maybe she had misheard… "No, Snow, it's fine I promise I won't tell, but tell me again?"

Snow smiled and sat on Regina's lap to whisper to her, "my papa is going to marry you so you can be my new mother."

Regina trembled and felt tears sting her eyes. "Oh, Snow… I uhm… I don't think I can accept that…"

Snow's face fell and she stood again, looking so very sad. "What? Why not? Wouldn't you like to live with us in our palace? You could be my new mother, I love you so much already!"

Regina was thinking hard, trying to figure out how to soothe a child. "I am sure that your palace is magnificent, but…"

"You don't want to be my mother? Do you not like me?"

"No! I do like you, very much, but I can't marry your father…"

Both heads turned to the door then as Cora entered, beaming from ear to ear. She saw the sad look on Snow's face and knew there would be a bit of trouble. "Snow, darling, your father is ready to go. But don't worry, he is bringing you back in a week to stay here with Regina until the wedding."

Snow looked at Cora confused, "but Regina said she doesn't want to marry my papa."

Cora smiled tightly, glaring daggers at her own daughter, "oh, she didn't mean that dear. She just meant she can't accept until your papa asks her himself!"

Snow clapped happily, "oh! I'm sure he will when he brings me back to stay!" She hugged Regina, not noticing the dazed face on the woman. She then skipped out of the room to join her father.

Cora replaced her smile with a stern face and approached the trembling Regina, "Regina…"

"No! Mother, no! I will not marry that man. He is old enough to be my father and even if he weren't… I've already promised my hand in marriage to someone else."

Cora scoffed at that, "the stable boy?" She shook her head at the shocked look on Regina's face. "Yes I know of him. I have graciously allowed you to play with him, but Regina, you are to be a queen. Not the wife of some filthy peasant!"

Regina was crying and getting more angry by the second. "I am going to marry him, mother. You cannot force me to wed the king."

Cora smiled sweetly at her and sighed, "you're right Regina."

"What?"

"I said you're right. I can't force you to marry him, he wouldn't have you by force. You will accept his proposal, or refuse it. It's your decision." Cora made her way to the teacup she had set down earlier after making it. She used a bit of magic to warm it back up. "Here, have a cup of tea with me and we can discuss this like adults. After all, you're old enough to make you own decisions."

Regina was shocked and took the offered tea cup. She took a few sips to buy a few moments to restart her thought process. She sat down and began telling her mother why she wouldn't marry the king… but it was very late. She had a lot of stress today, she was pretty tired. Her mother was speaking, but she couldn't understand her so she just nodded and smiled. Her mother urged her to finish her tea and she did, it was very good. Sweet, but with a sort of tang to it. She leaned back just to rest her eyes for a moment on the back of the chair…

….

Red was picking at a tiny sandwich that she had snatched off the tray headed to the king. Lorelei was watching Regina thru a crack in the wall. "My god that little girl can chatter…"

Red sighed and threw her remaining bite at Lorelei, "stop spying. If anything goes badly, you'll know."

Lorelei caught the bite of sandwich and ate it, leaving her crack in the wall to wrap her long arms around Red instead. She kissed the top of her head and squeezed her from behind, making the woman let out a long breath and lean back into her. "I just worry… Cora is up to something, I know it."

Red closed her eyes and just enjoyed leaning against the other woman. It wasn't very often they stopped to stand still long enough for moments like this. Lorelei was always running around. "They are just talking. If the king proposes marriage, Regina will refuse and Cora will get mad. But, she isn't stupid enough to try and force her. She knows you wouldn't allow it."

Lorelei released her and turned her stool so she could look down into her eyes with her arms on Red's shoulders. "I don't like waiting here, but at least I have fine company." She smiled and leaned down to kiss her soundly.

Red was getting a bit too into the kissing and was nearly about to pull away for the sake of her sanity, when Lorelei pulled back. She looked up at her, but she wasn't looking at Red. She was staring at the wall, as if trying to see thru it. "Lorelei? What's wrong?"

The siren shook her head very slowly, as if in a daze. She stumbled a few steps towards the door, but Red caught her as she nearly fell. Her pupils were large and her lids half closed. "Lorelei?!"

She didn't answer though, she was too tired. She guessed it had been a long day. Very stressful. She should sleep. Here was fine. She closed her eyes.

…

Red was in a panic as she called for Granny. The older woman came running and immediately picked up Lorelei and carried her to Red's chambers. The room Regina and her shared was up stairs and too far away. Granny peeled open her eyes and listened to her breathing, but she couldn't wake her. "Red, go get Regina! I can't wake her!"

Red nodded and bolted out the door. She threw open the door to the sitting room Regina had gone to only to find Cora standing over a sleeping Regina. Cora looked at her and smirked, "well, it must have worked if you're here and the damn guardian is not."

Red tried to run back to the kitchens, but something cold and metallic locked around her wrist. She immediately felt completely drained, and weakened. "What is this? What did you do?"

Cora walked over to her and nodded to the men who had put the shackle on her, "take her away. At least two days hard ride. Don't hurt her though, we wouldn't want an angry Lorelei on our hands. Leave her there. By the time she makes it back, being so weak, it'll be too late."

Red was about to throw herself at Cora, even weak and unable to shift, she could at least hit her, but one man hit her over the back of the head and her world went black.

Cora made her way to the kitchens and to Red's chambers but no one was there. She searched the rooms, all of them. But she didn't find the two she was searching for. She chewed her lip then, getting worried. If the old woman found a way to wake the siren too soon, well then Cora's plans would be ruined entirely. She sighed and headed back to tend to Regina. She just had to move things along a bit faster is all…

…..

Granny had heard the second Red made it to the sitting room and knew it was too late. Red was a strong girl, and smart. She would figure out a way to get back quickly, even with a wolfsbane shackle on. Picking up the unconscious woman, she headed out into the night air, walking quickly but with purpose to the tree line. She couldn't save anyone by herself. She had to wake this guardian up before Cora put whatever plans she had into place. Red would know where she went by her scent, so she wasn't worried about her grand daughter. She had learned very well had to hide and travel at night.

It was midmorning before Granny finally laid the sleeping woman down on the cot. This house was barely more than a shack, but no one ever came near it. More importantly, Cora didn't know of it. She busied herself building a fire and checking the stock she had been smuggling out of the manor for two weeks time. Mostly sealed jugs of vegetables that were kept for the winter time and dried meats.

She finally stopped and sat next to Lorelei. "Oh, how am I going to wake you up? Without you, I fear Regina is in very big trouble. And here I am trying to save the day!" She shook her head and began preparing her own cot against the far wall. "I'm too old to be getting into this nonsense, but here I am. Granny Lucas to the rescue I suppose…"

…..

Red awoke in a carriage that was traveling very swiftly down a bumpy road, she groaned and tried to reach up to her head, but she was tied down to the seat of the carriage. She could barely move around at all. She tried to see out the curtains, but they were shut well. She couldn't do anything except pick at the shackle on her wrist. She didn't know what it was, but she knew it locked her wolf away. She felt weak and defenseless. She managed to wrestle around enough to reach her hair at least. She had several pins in it to keep her wild locks out of her face. She dropped the first one she managed to peel out, but the second one she held well. She began picking at the lock with it, hoping beyond all hope that she could get this thing off.

She didn't know how long she had been digging at the tiny lock, but the sun had come up a while ago. The carriage never slowed as it shot down the road. She couldn't smell anything but the dirt of the road. Apparently, her wolf sense of smell was locked away too. She kept picking at the lock though, because she knew that somewhere, Regina and Lorelei were out cold. Completely defenseless to anything Cora had planned.

She thought it must be mid day when the carriage slowed and then stopped. She was sweating heavily and still digging at the lock. She heard the men outside speaking…

"Cora said two days."

"Yeah, well she didn't take into account that I need to piss did she?"

There was some laughter and the sound of a man walking away. Red kept picking. The man walked back to the carriage. The door was pulled open and Red winced at the sudden sunlight that hit her face.

A tall man with a scar on his nose smiled toothily at her, letting his eyes roam up and down her body. The bindings holding her down made it so she couldn't have adjusted her dress which had gotten pulled up to her knees. She felt her face heat as he stared at her bare legs. He licked his lips then leaning back so the other man could look in. That man examined her much the same way and he smiled too.

"Too bad Cora said not to hurt her…" the second man said.

"Well, she said that Lorelei would get pissy if we hurt her little bitch here. But, who do you think that freak would blame? Certainly not two guards she's never spoken to. I'm betting she'd go after Cora." The first man smiled at her while taking off his heavy riding gloves.

The second guard looked around outside the carriage, making sure no one was around. "You sure that cuff sapped her?"

The first man seemed to consider this and he reached into the carriage, stroking Red's bare leg. Red tried to kick at him, but the ropes held her down. "Don't touch me!"

The two men laughed at that and the first man started climbing in the carriage, "yeah, she's as weak as any other whore. Plus, she's all tied down."

The second man grabbed at his crotch and bounced a bit, "yeah, alright. You go first I'll keep watch. But don't tear her up too bad! I hate bruised meat." He laughed and shut the carriage door, leaving Red trying to pull away from the first man.

"Now now, little girl. Don't fight it, just relax and it won't hurt as much. I promise to show you how you should take it." He started untying his trousers and Red could clearly see his manhood was ready for his plans.

She was shaking now, and crying. She jammed her pin into the lock as hard as she could and as she heard a click, her eyes flashed yellow. The shackle hit the carriage floor as her teeth sank into the mans throat. He hadn't even had time to call out to his buddy.

She kept herself quiet, not wanting to alert the other man too soon. She waited until she was sure this man was dead, and then she nipped thru the ropes still around her legs. Her wolf was angry, hard to control. It wanted revenge on the other man who was going to rape her.

She heard the other man call out, "are you gonna get to it or not? Hello? Hey man don't choke her out, it's more fun when they're awake for it!" He laughed but when no sound came back to him, he walked back to the carriage door and unlocked it, immediately finding massive paws shoving him backwards. He landed on the ground on his back with the weight of a wolf holding him down. He opened his mouth as if to scream, but no sound came out as the wolfs jaws locked around his throat and snapped in in a single move.

Red didn't shift back to her human form, she couldn't. She had the taste of blood in her mouth and the wolf was so very angry. She turned her snout to the air and sniffed long and hard before finding her own scent and then sprinting back the way she had come.

…

Rumple watched as events played out in the manor house that night. Of course his magic was far stronger than Cora's but even he had trouble seeing the siren thru the mirrors. They became quite clear though once she passed out. He smirked at Cora's haughtiness. As if she could have cooked up a potion that would knock out Regina and the siren.

He had harvested a very rare flower called a black thistle and had made the potion for her. It had one use only, to be drank by Regina with the purpose of knocking out Lorelei. Cora could easily manipulate Regina, but the siren would stop her. So, once Cora was sure Lorelei wasn't coming to help, she simply had to put Regina in her bed and then use simple masking magic to make herself look and sound like her own daughter.

Rumple giggled as he let the mirror clear. He had offered to help her take out the siren for a short while. After all, a happily married peasant Regina wouldn't cast his curse. She also had the antidote, but by the time she woke the siren and her daughter, Regina would likely be married to the king.

He giggled as he resumed his business, happily awaiting the outcome.

….

Snow was so excited! Her father said Regina had sent word that she wished Snow to join her sooner. She wanted to accept the proposal this very day, only two days after Snow had seen her last. She was bouncing up and down in the carriage when they finally arrived. Regina was waiting for them outside the house, smiling brightly.

Snow rushed to her and wrapped her arms around her staring up at her new beautiful mother. "I am so happy you decided to accept my papa's proposal Regina!"

Regina smiled at her and said, "well of course I did! He's a king and he has the greatest daughter I could ever think of!" She looked up to face the king himself as he approached her.

The king smiled back at his soon to be bride, she seemed plenty happy with the choice which he was relieved for. Snow wanted Regina to be her mother very much, he would hate to disappoint her. He hadn't thought to get remarried, but how could he tell his daughter no? "Regina, you have accepted my proposal?" He waited until she nodded and looked down at Snow shyly, "Good. I'm sure you will be very happy living with us in the palace."

The king then walked past her, effectively dismissing her as he began chatting with Henry. Henry looked confused still, but his daughter seemed happy enough with the proposal, so he would be too. Cora hadn't bothered to wait though, she left word that she had gone to make wedding plans already.

Cora fawned over the giddy little girl as if she were so special to her. Of course, as soon as Regina had wed the king, she would produce an heir and Snow could be disposed of. Regina wouldn't just be this mans trophy, oh no. Cora was building a legacy.

Cora looked up to see Daniel watching from the stables, she remembered she hadn't spoken to him since taking on the form of Regina. Well… she decided maybe just this once she would enjoy herself before getting back to business. She waited for Snow to bounce over to her papa and snuck away to the stables. She was greeted by the handsome young man her daughter was so enamored by. As Cora allowed him to wrap his arms around her she could see why Regina was so fond of him.

He was sweet and gentle, and very strong. Fairly handsome too. She decided to enjoy just a bit more of this ruse. She whispered to him to wait for her this evening, that she would come see him after night fell. He kissed her passionately and swore he would. She laughed as she left the stables to rejoin the royal gathering. He was so sweet, she almost felt bad for what she had planned for him… almost.

….

Granny sat and watched over the siren, worrying as the days slipped by. Red should have been able to get here by now. Maybe she couldn't handle herself as well as she had thought. Just as she started doubting herself again, there was a quiet knock on the door. She readied her crossbow, prepared to kill anything that came thru. After a few moments, the door eased open slowly.

The first thing Granny noticed was the smell of days old blood. Then she saw the tear streaked face of her grand daughter. She dropped the bow and rushed to help Red inside. She didn't speak the whole time Granny washed her face and hands. She looked as if she had ran thru hell to get here.

Finally, Red spoke, "what's going to happen to Regina?"

Granny shrugged, "I don't know. I have no way to know what's going on in the manor house."

Red nodded and looked over to where Lorelei was sleeping. "She still hasn't woken up?"

Shaking her head, granny watched as Red carefully crawled onto the cot with the siren and nuzzled in close to her, silently crying herself to sleep. She took a deep breath and resumed her seat to watch the door.

…

Three days had passed since Snow came to stay with Regina. She had free reign of the house, of course, except for one bedroom she was told was full of webs and dust. She mostly just followed Regina around, practically worshipping her new mother.

Cora sighed as the child rambled on and on about the most mundane things. The wedding plans were in full effect, the kingdom had been told of the marriage and it was time to stop playing her daughters part. Just one final touch and she would wake her to her new life.

Cora snuck away while Snow was eating dinner. She went to the stable and found Daniel. She let him paw at her hungrily and kiss her passionately. She chuckled, remembering when she had urged him to go further. He was so shocked that Regina wanted more. Her daughter was rather prude it seemed. Well she took care of that, after all, this wasn't really Regina's body he was defiling. She stopped him before he could push her dress up and smiled at him sweetly before flicking her wrist and watching him fall to the floor of the stable. She admired his form just a moment longer and then used magic to make herself appear to have been manhandled by a filthy stable boy.

She waited for the footsteps of the child as she knew they would come before picking up a board and pretending to be overcome with emotion.

"Regina! What happened?" Snow cried out.

She turned to her and collapsed in tears, hiding her face. Snow rushed to her and hugged her, "tell me what happened Regina please!"

"This boy attacked me! Oh, Snow, you shouldn't see me like this, I'm so sorry."

Snow looked at the boy on the ground and realized Regina must have knocked him in the head with her board. She hugged Regina again and shouted for the guards loudly until they rushed in, swords drawn. "That boy hurt Regina!"

The guards took in the woman and the boy, coming to the obvious conclusion and snatched him off the floor. Cora awoke him just as they drug him out. The king and Henry rushed into the stables, Henry falling beside his daughter to hold her close.

The king demanded answers as he watched the stable boy struggling and calling Regina's name. "Oh, papa, it was horrible! That boy attacked Regina, but she hit him in the head. Please don't let him get away papa! He hurt her!"

The king cleared his throat and asked quietly, "Regina, did he defile you?"

Cora shook her head quickly, "no, my king. He tried to force me into the stall, but I fought him. He did not manage much."

The king nodded, "he shall be put to the death immediately."

Cora spoke up quickly, "please, my king, wait until morning? I wish to see him pay for his offenses."

The king nodded and took Snow's hand, leading her back to the manor. Henry was in a daze, as Cora had kept him for several days now. He frowned and was clearing up though, "Regina, I don't understand. Where has your guardian been? Should she not have saved you…?"

Cora smirked at him. She put the spell on him again and he went back to being his usual, dazed self again. She walked away to go to bed. In the morning, her daughter would awaken to find herself very nearly married and with a dead stable boy. Cora smiled.

….


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Cora had to be sure her timing was just right. Any seconds out of place and all of her work would be undone, not to mention she would likely end up dead herself. She made a small show of crying as Daniel was taken to the tree where he was to be hanged. He pleaded with her for forgiveness and begging her to explain what was happening, but she could barely face him.

The king stood by her, and she said she had to leave, it was just all too much. He told her not to worry, his daughter would be his judge today. Cora looked up at him adoringly and raced off.

She went to her sleeping daughters room and watched out the window as they held a mock trial for the boy. He wasn't allowed to speak, and the rope was nearly ready now. She let her magic go and was herself once again. She unstoppered the bottle of antidote and poured it into Regina's mouth. She had made sure Rumple made it taper into affect though. She needed Regina to see what was happening, but couldn't have Lorelei popping in and saving the boy.

Regina's eyes fluttered open and she was trying to focus them. Cora smiled and gently eased her to sit up and they stumbled to the window. Regina finally focused her eyes on the scene below and tried to stand on her own, but was too weak. She saw Daniel being lead to stand in front of a hanging tree. She tried to call out, to scream to do anything at all, but she could barely keep her eyes open and her mother held her there.

"This is what happens when you don't obey me Regina, I'm sorry it had to come to this." Cora spoke so sweetly to her. As if she felt anything but victory.

Regina felt the tears falling, but was too weak to even sob. She heard the king ask, "Snow White, is this the man that assaulted my bride to be?"

Snow nodded and with an angry little girl voice Regina heard her condemn Daniel to death. "Yes, papa. He hurt Regina and we sentence him to death."

The king nodded and told her how proud he was that she had made her first royal declaration. Daniel was put in the noose and Regina barely managed to close her eyes as she collapsed on to the floor. She felt her heart shatter and she curled up there with her mother holding her as she cried.

She didn't want her mothers comfort. She knew Cora had arranged his death. But, there was no one else to hold her as she cried. She vaguely had a thought as to where Lorelei and Red were but the heart break washed the thoughts away as she fainted from exhaustion once more.

….

Red was holding herself close to Lorelei. She had barely done anything but grip her side. When she felt the woman twitch slightly under her hands she sprang up to look down at her, holding her breath until dilated silver eyes opened slowly. "…Gina…?"

Red let her breath go and decided not to be hurt that Regina was her first thought. "Lorelei, I'm here. Wake up, we need you to wake up."

The sirens head was swimming. She couldn't think. There was a pain in her chest but she barely registered it at all. She looked up at Red and smiled drowsily at her. "Hi Red."

Red huffed and tried not to let the tears fall, but they did anyway. Those silver eyes brought her so much relief. "Hi Lorelei."

The siren tried to move, but her limbs felt as heavy as lead. She felt a pull, like she needed to go somewhere. But she couldn't actually do anything. The pain stopped and she sighed with relief. Whatever it was, it stopped. She felt Reds lips on hers and smiled as she drifted back to sleep.

…

It took nearly a whole day for Lorelei to sit up on her own. She was clear headed now and furious. She needed to get to Regina. She could feel her pain, but couldn't make her magic take her. It was too much to ask of her exhausted body. "I have to get to her."

Red clenched her jaw, "Lorelei you're too weak to go anywhere. It's been a week now. I'm sorry but whatever Cora had in mind, she's done it by now." Red tried to be patient. She loved Lorelei with all her heart, but not once had she asked Red what she had been thru in that week. Not once has she asked how she got to this shack. All she has done since she woke up is try to move and say she has to get to Regina. "As soon as you can walk, or use your magic, we will get you back to her."

Granny watched the exchange between them and felt pity for her grand daughter. Lorelei had no idea what Red had gone thru to get back to her. What had almost happened to her because she wouldn't leave when granny told her to. Red finally got up and walked outside, slamming the door. Lorelei didn't seem to notice though. She was still flexing her muscles, willing them to take her where she had to be.

"You know, that girl has been laying with you the whole time you've been out." Lorelei nodded and continued working her muscles. "She's been crying for you, and trying to wake you up."

Lorelei looked at her then, frowning, "why was she crying?"

"Because she loves you! I have no idea why, but she does." Granny yelled at her.

Lorelei sighed, "I know she does. I love her too, but…"

Red had come back in, "but Regina needs you."

Lorelei looked at her and could see she was hurt. She finally realized why she probably looked so hurt. She held out her hand and silently asked Red to come sit with her on the cot. When Red didn't move, Lorelei made to try and stand, immediately her knees gave out and Red rushed to catch her, and of course, sat beside her.

Taking Red's hand she gently used her other hand to cup her face and make Red look at her. Once she finally had eyes meeting her own she said in barely more than a whisper, "I love you, Red. If you were gone and I had woken up with Regina, I would stop at nothing to find you again. Nothing could ever stop me from getting back to you. I need you with me. But, Regina is in trouble, I can feel it in my chest. She doesn't have you. She is alone there. She's in pain. I have to get back to her."

Her lip trembled as she wrapped her arms around Lorelei. When she pulled back again she wiped her tears away and nodded, "I know. I'm sorry. As soon as you can walk, we will get back to her."

Lorelei kissed her gently and ran her fingers thru the wild hair. "I'm sorry, I have not asked how you are. Tell me what you have been thru?"

Red leaned in to the other womans touch and sighed. She finally told Lorelei everything she had gone thru with the men and the carriage. Lorelei's eyes were shining brightly with her anger. "If they weren't dead I'd kill them myself. I'm sorry you had to do that. I'm sorry I fell asleep and I'm sorry that I never broke Cora's neck!"

Red tried to calm her down, but that was really Regina's thing. She'd never had to bring Lorelei down from this kind of anger. Lorelei stood on wobbly legs and started walking around the small shack, refusing to sit again until she collapsed. She was going to get to Regina. Soon.

…

Regina had been fading in and out of sleep since Daniels death. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw that child pointing at Daniel and condemning him to death. Cora had been tending to her for a few days. Regina hadn't bothered to try and get out of bed for more than using the washroom. She just laid in bed and cried herself back to sleep.

Cora was entertaining Snow in the garden when the king came to her, "Cora, where is your daughter?"

Cora smiled at him and bowed her head in respect, "she is still trying to recover. Poor girl has never even considered that peasant men could be dangerous."

The king nodded, "I trust she will be well by weeks end?"

Cora nodded happily, "of course. The wedding is the only thing keeping her going."

The king smiled and took Snow away to spend time with him. Cora made her way back up to Regina's room. She was standing, looking out the window. "Dear, are you finally going to get out of bed and be civil to your fiance?"

Regina didn't turn around, she just watched out the window as the king walked away with his daughter. She watched until they disappeared around the side of the house. "I don't want to marry him."

Cora laughed lightly while shaking her head. "Oh my dear, you don't have a choice. No one is going to save you. Wherever Lorelei is now, she is far weaker than even you are. The whole kingdom knows of the wedding and the king would kill us all if we backed out."

Regina shrugged and laid back down. "She will come and save me. Her and Red. They'll be here before it's too late."

Cora sat next to her and stroked her hair. "dear girl, they are together right now. Do you not think Red could have gotten here with your guardian if she wanted to?" She saw the doubt on Regina's face. "Red is in love with her and I imagine she is relishing in her alone time with Lorelei."

Regina shook her head, "no. They are trying to get to me."

Cora grabbed the hand mirror by the bed. She focused into the shack where the two women had been holed up with the old woman. The image was fuzzy and getting worse as Lorelei regained her strength, but visible enough.

Cora smiled triumphantly, "there you see?"

Regina looked at the mirror and saw Red and Lorelei laying on a cot and smiling at each other. She couldn't hear anything, but Red smiled at something the other said and they clung to each other tighter as they kissed.

Regina felt her chest ache and turned away. Cora watched as Lorelei broke away from Red and held her own chest, grimacing. Then they were frowning again, and Cora smiled.

The siren could feel the pain, but not use her magic to reach Regina. Rumple had done well with his potion. He said the sirens strength would be weakened for about two weeks after she woke. Regina saw them during a brief moment of love between them. Usually when Cora checked, they were trying to help Lorelei recover.

The wedding would be over before the siren could use her magic again. Cora smiled and stroked her daughters hair as she cried herself to sleep again.

…

Too many days had passed. Lorelei couldn't wait any longer. She could barely walk but she could walk enough to start towards Regina. Granny and Red were keeping a close eye on her as they slowly made their way thru the trees. It took twice as long as it should have, but as the sun set, they caught sight of the manor house. But something was wrong.

Lorelei sat down heavily on a log. She was exhausted. Red made sure Granny would watch her and snuck her way to the house. Listening from a distance. She heard what was wrong and raced back to Lorelei.

Red burst thru the trees and panted from sprinting. "Regina is getting married right now! Daniel is dead."

Lorelei stood, wide eyed staring at Red, "what? No! How could that have happened?"

Red shook her head, "Cora. That's not the biggest problem, the wedding is in Leopolds palace. It's two days away at best."

Lorelei was breathing heavily, she closed her eyes and concentrated as hard as she could. If her magic didn't work, it would be too late to help Regina. She was already too late to save Daniel.

….

Regina was in a fog. She had held on to the hope that she would be saved. But she wasn't. She drifted thru the wedding in all it's royal glory. She barely registered that it had occurred at all. Now she was being dressed in night clothes by strange hand maidens. Her mother was with her, waiting for her to be dressed. When finally they were done, they left and Cora hugged Regina, beaming proudly at her. "Oh, look at you my dear Regina! You're the queen of the White kingdom."

"Are you proud of me now mother?" Regina asked quietly.

Cora nodded, "yes my sweet daughter I am."

"But I don't love him…"

Cora laughed lightly, "you don't need to dear. You just need to be a good wife for him and a good mother to Snow. Love is weakness Regina. You thought you loved that stable boy and look what happened? He's dead because you didn't listen to me. Your friend Red was in love with you guardian. You pushed them together, helped Lorelei be in love with her in return. Look around Regina, they're not here. They are in love somewhere without you. Love is weakness."

Regina heaved a sigh, resigned to her new life. She made to lie down in the bed but Cora stopped her, "Regina, you should be standing when the king comes for you."

Regina paled, "he's coming here?"

Cora smiled at her, "you're not really his queen until he consummates the marriage. You know what to do. Just let him do what it is he wishes and he'll leave you be."

Regina was trembling now. She hadn't thought ahead to this point. The last thing she wanted was for that old man to be sweating on top of her. Touching her anyway he wished. She nearly fainted when she realized she didn't have a choice. She belonged to him now. He owned her now.

Cora heard a soft knock and bowed out the door as the king entered. He frowned as he took in Regina's state. She was pale and trembling, obviously scared to death. He sighed as he began removing his wedding suit.

Regina turned her eyes away as he started removing his clothing. She was breathing hard and her heart was pounding in her chest. She was completely terrified.

The king stopped undressing as Regina got worse. He slowly moved towards her, eventually reaching for her arm. She jerked away from him and he tried to remain patient. Snow's mother wasn't this difficult. She had wanted him to touch her. "Regina, you're my wife. Sharing this moment is the last step in becoming married. Just, relax. I can be finished quickly if you cooperate."

Regina tried to calm herself but it wasn't working. Usually Lorelei calmed her just by being near her. She hadn't seen her in ages. She no longer thought she would come to her aid. The king reached for her again and she couldn't help it. She pulled away again.

Out of patience, the king decided to take what was his. He grabbed her by the arms and pulled her close to himself, forcing her to meet his lips with hers. She was crying and that just irritated him more. How dare this girl not want him? He was the king of the greatest kingdom in the realm. She should be thanking him for wanting her.

He pushed her onto the bed and trapped her hands above her head with one of his hands and used his free hand to grope at her chest.

A violent crack of light was all the warning he had. A violent crack of light and he was bouncing off the far wall. He landed in a heap on the floor, unfortunately not dead. Lorelei staggered and her knees buckled. She fell on the floor by the bed, breathing heavily.

Regina grabbed her and pulled her up to hold her against herself. She was crying and shaking and Lorelei was trying to stay awake. Several minutes passed before they both calmed down. Lorelei looked up at her, raising a shaky hand to her cheek, "I'm so sorry… I couldn't…"

Regina sobbed hard and pressed her hand against her face, relishing in the contact of her friend. "Shh, I know. I know. It's not your fault. It's ok. Don't leave me again, please please."

Shaking her head slowly, the siren looked into Regina's eyes and swore, "no. I won't, not ever. I'll never leave you again. I swear it Regina."

They held each other until the king stirred against the wall. Regina started shaking again, scared Lorelei was too weak to protect her. But Lorelei stood and focused hard on looking fine. The king stood and leaned against the wall, staring at the two women standing across the room.

"I'll have you both killed for this."

"You won't. You're going to leave this room and never come at Regina again. Your daughter wants a mother, afterall." Lorelei spoke quietly, but her eyes flashed with her anger.

The king sneered at them, "you expect me to just pretend you didn't attack me? I'm the king."

Lorelei stepped towards him, thankful her knees did not give out on her. "You should be thankful I didn't kill you. You leave and never approach her again and your daughter gets a mother. You threaten Regina once more and your child gets to be an orphan."

The king hesitated now, thinking on it. "You would kill me just for claiming my wife?"

"I would kill you for splashing three drops of water on her."

The king swallowed. "Fine. She will do her duties and tend to Snow. If she does her job, I will leave her alone and we will pretend this marriage has been bound."

Lorelei looked to Regina, "tell me Regina. Is this good enough? I can take you away from here right now if you want me to."

Regina thought about just running away but the vision of that child sentencing Daniel to his death was all she could see. If she left, the child would never learn her lesson. She nodded her agreement. "I'm staying."

Lorelei's face conveyed her sadness to her friend, but she turned back to the king. "Fine."

As soon as the door closed behind the king, Lorelei wanted to collapse, but as Regina hugged her firmly, it turned to keeping her standing as Cora walked thru the door. The old woman stopped sharply, staring at her daughter and her guardian. Lorelei's eyes flashed violently and she tried to step towards her but Regina stopped her.

"Lorelei…. Don't hurt her. Please. I just want to go to sleep." Regina held her friends face and pleaded with her, watching the anger fade away to a more manageable level.

Cora swallowed hard but turned to leave. "Good night Regina."

"Good night mother." Regina replied quietly.

Once she was gone, Regina guided Lorelei to the bed and helped her lie down. She looked ready to fall asleep immediately. "Where's Red?" She didn't think Lorelei heard her after a few moments of no answer.

"I don't know. I hope she comes to us. I had to get to you." Lorelei mumbled sleepily.

Regina settled in tightly against her guardian and smiled for the first time since Daniel died. She didn't care what her mothers mirror showed her. Lorelei would always come for her. She was more important than Red. It made her feel guilty for thinking it, but it also made her feel safer. Lorelei loved Red, but Regina had to come first. She couldn't survive long enough to teach Snow a lesson without Lorelei. She wondered briefly what would happen when Red did show up, if she did. Regina wasn't going to sleep alone. She was terrified to be alone. What if Red wanted Lorelei for herself? No, she wouldn't do that to Regina… she hoped.

…..


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

It only took a day for Red to get to the palace. She was out of breath, and sweaty, but she made it. She did not however, know how to get into the palace. The guards weren't blind and considering the royalty in the palace, they were pretty good at their jobs. She looked around for a while and finally spied a gap in the patrols. Carefully, she crept in to the courtyard. She was rather proud of herself, until a swirl of smoke turned into Cora in front of her. She considered running, but really, how far could she get. She suddenly remembered the feeling of the shackle on her wrist and felt herself shake.

Cora smiled at her, too sweetly. "Calm down, little Red. I don't want to hurt you."

Red snorted, as scared as she was, she wouldn't let this woman intimidate her. "The guards you had knock me out and try to rape me would say otherwise."

Cora frowned darkly, "they raped you?"

Red rolled her eyes, "no. They tried to. I got that shackle off and killed them."

Cora sighed heavily. "No matter what you think of me, I would never have allowed that. Had I known I would have killed them myself."

Red narrowed her eyes suspiciously. She couldn't quite decide if Cora was being sincere or not. "Yeah well… I took care of it."

Cora smiled at her, "I am truly sorry that happened to you. I only meant to remove you for a few days. Let me make it up to you." Cora held her hand out and was actually a little surprised when Red eventually took it. She smiled and led her into the castle. She stopped long enough to introduce her to the guard captain. Once he knew her, she would be allowed in and out as she pleased.

They rounded corner after corner, went down too many hallways to count. Red wondered momentarily how humans could find their way out of all this. Eventually, they came to stop in front of a chamber door. Cora smiled at her and opened it up, leading Red in.

Red looked around, eyes wide. This room was massive. It was at least four times the size of the shack her and Granny had been in. "My god Cora, is this your room?"

Cora chuckled, "no. My room is fit for a queens mother dear. This is your room. It's one of the smallest guest rooms, but it is the closest guest room to the queens suite."

Red looked around more and found a door to a private bathing chamber. She finally looked back to Cora, "you want me to stay here? Why?"

Cora rolled her eyes, "because… well honestly, you keep Lorelei distracted. Regina must focus on her duties. She's the queen now after all. This past day of Lorelei being physically attached to her has been less than ideal. It's bad enough they sleep together." Cora turned away and mumbled something under her breath angrily, no one would have heard it…

"What did you just say?" Red asked as she stared at the woman.

Cora mentally swore at herself. Wolf hearing… she forgot. "Ah, nothing…"

"Lorelei, what did you call her? A siren?"

Giving up, Cora sighed, "I said, most girls have a teddy bear, my daughter has a god damn siren."

"What's a siren? Where did she come from? Does she have family?"

Cora held her hands up and grimaced hard. She didn't make many mistakes, but this might have been one. "I have no idea. I don't know anything about them. She might be the only one for all I know. I don't care." She crossed her arms across her chest and turned to go. "There's a library here, go read it."

Red watched her leave and then went to wash up quickly. She searched thru the wardrobes. Not much of the clothing was anything she would possibly wear, but eventually she found a decent dress that wasn't so fancy. She checked herself in the mirror and then took a deep breath in the hallway. She caught the scent and was quickly taking turns thru the palace.

….

Regina hadn't wanted to jump into her queen duties on her second day, but mother had insisted she must show her usefulness. Cora knew the marriage hadn't been consummated, and therefore she had to prove her worth to the king. This led to her sitting in the same room as him while listening to the problems of the people. She tried to pay attention but the king being so close to her was making her anxious. Every time he glanced at her she looked down and could feel her nerves rattling. It helped having her guardian with her, but she was distracting too. Whenever the anxiety spiked, Lorelei would tense up and stare at him until he looked away again.

Finally, they were let out for a bit of a break. Regina had to use all of her self control to smile and slowly leave the room instead of run. Lorelei took her hand and gently led her away form the crowd. They came to a hall that was mercifully empty and Regina let go. She wrapped her arms around the other woman and clung tightly to her, burying her face in her neck.

Lorelei held her close and rested her chin on Regina's head, trying to soothe her. She wasn't paying attention to anything but trying to calm her friend. Red came around a corner and came up right behind them. She stayed quiet and just watched as they held each other.

Red felt the sharp stabbing jealousy that she had grown accustomed to. She took a deep breath to calm herself then cleared her throat quietly. She waited, but they didn't seem to hear. She finally spoke instead, "Hey…"

Lorelei turned quickly with Regina still firmly attached. She smiled and look incredibly relieved. "Red, you found us!"

Red smiled at her and then just felt awkward because Regina was trying to dry her tears and pull herself together while still attached to Lorelei. When they finally separated, Lorelei pulled her in for a hug.

"Red, are you alright?" Regina asked finally.

Red nodded and pulled away from Lorelei, still feeling awkward. "Yes, I'm just tired from the trip. We can't all magic pop."

Lorelei grimaced, "I'm sorry I vanished again."

Red shook her head as if it was completely fine. "Regina needed you. I understand." She turned to Regina, "how are you? What happened that night?"

Regina took a deep breath and let it go before answering, "I have to attend more councils soon… I can't talk about that right now."

Red nodded. "Of course, I'm sorry."

Lorelei couldn't figure out what was wrong with the two women. The air seemed to buzz with tension. She finally spoke to break it. "Ah, Regina? Is the king going to be at all the councils?"

Regina stared at her. Did she think she only needed to be with her when the king was going to be close? "Yes. He will attend all of them until he leaves next month."

Lorelei smiled at Red, "the councils will probably last until dinner. Do you need me to show you our room?"

Regina looked away, she didn't want Red in their rooms, not overnight. Seeing them together made Regina think of Daniel, and that isn't something she could handle right now. Red noticed Regina looking uncomfortable and quickly answered, "I actually have my own room. Cora showed me the way when I got here a while ago."

Lorelei looked confused, obviously not noticing the exchange going on. "Oh… okay. Well, will you join us for dinner?"

Red smiled at her and nodded. Lorelei squeezed her hand quickly before taking Regina's hand and walking back to the meeting room.

Red calmly walked back to her room and gently closed the door. Then she threw the first thing she got her hands on against the wall. She was not fine. She was incredibly angry and hurt. Lorelei vanished on her, again. She had to find her way back to her alone, again. She finally got here, and instead of holding her Lorelei and being comforted by her, she was holding Regina's hand and sitting with Regina.

She calmed down enough to fell guilty. Regina needed Lorelei, she just wanted her. They were put together as infants so Lorelei would grow to be her guardian. They might not have know what she was, but they knew that. Red was thrown in the mix by accident because her mother was able to feed Lorelei.

Red closed her eyes and groaned. She just wanted Lorelei to choose her first, just one time.

…..

They sat thru the council meetings until it was nearly dinner time. After it ended, they went back to their rooms to freshen up before dinner. Well, Regina freshened up. Lorelei paced around the room anxiously waiting for Regina to finish.

"Lorelei, why can't you sit still?"

With an offended look, Lorelei turned to her, "from sunup til dinner I have sat still! I have stood beside you and counted the painted flowers on the damn wall!"

Regina smiled at her, "okay. I'm sorry. You actually did very well today. Did you ever consider listening to the people speak? Maybe learn diplomacy?"

Lorelei made a gagging noise and grabbed her throat as if she were choking. "I'm dying… choking on… diplomacy!" She laid on the floor with her tongue hanging out.

Regina bit her cheek not to laugh. "Lorelei really. That is ridiculous. Diplomacy is vital when you consider…"

Regina jumped as the woman on the floor screamed a high pitched wail of a noise. Then she did laugh. She laughed and lightly kicked her friend until she stood up again. "Oh, that was close. I almost was done for. Thank god you stopped talking when you did, I might not have made it!"

Regina shook her head and slapped her arm playfully, "you are the worst person, I swear. There is nothing wrong with diplomacy."

Lorelei opened her mouth as if to scream again but Regina covered it with her hand raising her brows in warning. Finally the woman shut her mouth and gestured to the door. "Can we eat now? Talking about the most boring thing to have ever been put into words is very hunger inducing."

Shaking her head and still smiling, Regina opened the door and they headed for the dining hall. Red was there waiting for them. She watched as Regina was hanging on Lorelei's arm and smiling up at her. She felt that stab again, but tried her best to hide it.

Regina caught Red biting her lip and looking out of place and felt bad that she had taken Lorelei from her all day. She didn't want to let her go, but she did. "Lorelei, I'm going to dine with the visiting nobles. Why don't you eat with Red, maybe show her around for a while before bed?"

Lorelei nodded and eagerly rushed up to Red and wrapped her arms around her, picking her up and swinging her around until Red stopped laughing and demanded to be put down. "I've missed you."

Red blushed, glancing around and finding Regina walking away swiftly. She felt bad momentarily, but then Lorelei was kissing her far too passionately for such a public place. She pushed her back just enough to look at her in the eye, "you need to behave. We're in a palace…"

Lorelei looked around as if trying to find something, "Red, these are just people. I've kissed you in front of a lot of people before."

Red blushed as a servant raised a brow at them, "palace people are more… sensitive… to things like that." Lorelei gave her a disbelieving frown so Red just laughed at her again and took her hand, leading her to a small table where they could eat in relative seclusion. They ate quickly, the way they always did. Red wanted to see the palace so Lorelei took her by the hand and they ran thru the halls, much to the displeasure of the palace staff. Red wasn't really seeing anything except the woman holding her hand, but she didn't really mind either.

Stopping so suddenly Red ran into her back, Lorelei spun and asked quietly, "where are your rooms? Can I kiss you there?"

Red blushed again and felt a rush of heat as she led her to the rooms she had taken. They entered and Lorelei immediately started touching everything. Red just sat on the edge of the bed and watched her.

Lorelei finally got bored of the room and turned to see Red sitting there. She smiled at her and slowly approached her, she licked her lips as she put her hand on her shoulders and gently pushed her to lay back on the blankets.

Red was breathing heavily as she stared up at the woman hovering over her. When Lorelei kissed her she closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around her neck, pulling her closer.

They worked their way up to the head board, laying next to each other. They were whispering and giggling and in between sharing tender kisses, they were letting their hands roam each others clothes.

"Lorelei…" Red whispered thru her heavy breathing. When the woman met her eyes, something seemed to shift in them both. It seemed all at once that clothing was being tossed to the floor and they moaned together under the sheet as their skin touched for the first time in a way that was very much not friendship.

The first time Red heard her name being moaned by the other woman, she knew she never wanted to hear it any other way from her. Hands were pushing and pulling and feeling every inch of their bodies. Lorelei seemed to be frustrated in what she needed to do, but Red had a pretty good idea.

Red took her time looking down from her position above the siren. She memorized the wide eyed stare that the other woman had as Red moved herself lower down her body. She nearly came undone herself when Lorelei called out her name not long after, gripping the bedsheets in one hand and Red's hair with the other.

Shaking with adrenaline and emotion, Red moved back up the womans body to kiss her and hold her as she came back down from her high. She had never been more proud of herself than this moment. Lorelei was the strongest person Red had ever known, but under her hands, she was completely vulnerable.

It only took a few minutes before Lorelei regained herself and flipped them over. She explored Red as thoroughly as she could, first with her mouth and then her hands. She leaned her forehead against red's and shared her breath as her hand worked to make Red cling to her, nails digging into her shoulder in the most wonderful way.

They had been under those sheets that now were damp with sweat and their love making for nearly two hours. They were now just holding each other closely and gently kissing as they caressed each other softly.

….

Regina ate and spoke kindly with the nobles around her. The king had chosen to dine with his daughter in their private rooms. No one questioned why they queen hadn't been invited. Cora appeared shortly after the meal and took Regina out to the gardens. They were beautiful by moonlight.

"Regina dear, not that I'm complaining, but where is your guardian?"

Regina's jaw clenched just for a second before she shook her head and released her jealousy. "She's with Red. If I need her, she'll come to me."

Cora nodded and sighed, "well, at least that wolf is good for something."

Regina frowned at her, "mother, you know Red is my friend. I love her like a sister."

Cora nodded impatiently, "yes I know. I just mean that giving Lorelei something else to do is convenient."

"Lorelei was perfectly behaved today. She sat with me thru all of the council meetings."

"Yes, but she was bored beyond all reason. The only reason she forced herself to stay was because she thinks the king is some kind of threat to you."

"He is."

Cora noted the hatred on her daughters face and smiled. Yes, this would serve well in the future. "Well, I understand but I think you're being ridiculous. You must lay with him in order to produce an heir."

Regina grimaced, "I don't think I will mother. Besides, Leopold has an heir. Snow White."

Cora was slightly taken back by the hatred that poured thru her daughters teeth at speaking the childs name. She smiled again because this was going to be easier than she had thought. "But if some terrible misfortune should befall the child… well… it's best to have a back up."

Regina looked at her mother and was going to ask her to explain what she was talking about, but something in a palace window caught her attention. She squinted, looking up at the window. She sighed heavily and closed her eyes. It was Red and Lorelei, kissing and smiling as they ran thru the halls.

Cora followed her gaze and put a hand on her shoulder whispering to her, "Regina, darling. Lorelei needs someone like Red to keep her company and help her burn off all that energy."

Regina frowned and turned away from the window. "I just wish I could keep her to myself. I feel horrid because I know they… love each other… But…"

Cora interrupted her, she was having trouble pretending to feel bad about it all. "Regina, you can't expect a dog to stay on the porch year round if you don't feed it on occasion."

Blinking rapidly, Regina stared at her mother, "what the hell does that mean?!"

Sighing, Cora motioned for them to sit down on a bench, "Lorelei isn't human dear. She's a siren." Regina looked shocked and full of questions, but Cora hushed her with a wave of her hand. Since Red already knew, she wanted Regina to be in the know too. "There's a library, read about it. The point is, Lorelei and Red have that in common. They are both creatures with animalistic needs. It's not surprising they are drawn to each other."

Regina blushed at the realization of what her mother was implying. "You can't possibly be suggesting I have sex with Lorelei?"

Cora shrugged, "if you're going to grind your teeth every time you see them together, that's the only thing you can do."

"That is out of the question. I feel nothing of the sort for her. I'm quite sure she feels the same."

Standing with a sigh, Cora smoothed her dress and looked at her daughter, "you are obsessed with feelings Regina. When you want something, you use what you have to get it. When I wanted to marry a prince, I used magic. If you want to keep the woman to yourself, you need to use your body."

Regina watched as she walked away. She sat and thought for a while before heading to her rooms. She was disappointed to see that Lorelei wasn't there, but no matter what her mother thought, she wasn't going to get romantic with her guardian. She had a better idea. Her mother used magic to get what she wanted, Regina could do the same.

….

At some point in the evening, Red and Lorelei had fallen asleep holding each other. It was after midnight when Red jumped awake as Lorelei vanished in a flash of light. She didn't need to wonder where she went. So she just pulled a pillow in close to herself and tried to go back to sleep; no matter how empty her bed felt now.

Lorelei found herself standing naked next to Regina's bed. She looked around quickly, but no one was there. She sat close to Regina who was mumbling in her sleep. When she got closer though, she realized her friend was crying and her hands were fisted tightly. She was having a nightmare.

Lorelei gently shook her and said her name until Regina's eyes shot open and she looked around in a panic. Lorelei eased her back down to the mattress, "Regina, you were having a nightmare. You're alright. I'm here with you, and I won't let anyone hurt you."

Regina was still shaking from her nightmare and couldn't stop herself, "you're here now! You couldn't be bothered any sooner though could you?!"

Lorelei pulled back in hurt shock, "but, you told me you would be alright. You told me to go with Red."

Regina calmed a bit and closed her eyes, running a hand thru her hair. "I'm sorry. I know you and Red needed time together. I just thought you would be here before I fell asleep. I have never had nightmares when you're here with me."

Lorelei smiled at her and crawled over her, making her grunt loudly when a stray elbow caught her stomach. "I'm here now. I didn't know you were expecting me."

Regina smiled but then sat up to look at her friend fully, "why are you naked?"

Lorelei glanced at herself and remembered she was naked. "Uhm… well… I didn't have time to dress. My magic brought me here when you were having your nightmare…"

Regina blushed furiously when she realized where Lorelei had been at this hour. She picked up her pillow and hit the woman with it repeatedly until she stood up again, eyes wide with confusion. "You insensitive ass! You left her there?"

Spreading her hands out, Lorelei backed away from her unusually angry friend. "I didn't leave! My magic brought me here!"

Regina threw her pillow at her and pointed to the door, "I had a nightmare. You should have woken me, said goodnight and gone back!"

Lorelei bolted out the door, servants squealing as the naked woman ran thru the palace. Regina groaned loudly. Great, now she was encouraging Lorelei to leave her alone. Oh, and, the whole place was going to hear about the naked guardian sprinting thru the halls. She quickly put on her robe in time for her hand maidens to rush in to check on her.

Lorelei could have Red and she would find another way to protect herself when her guardian was… well, preoccupied. She would just have to work harder to make everything work for everyone.

….

Red was just about to give up on sleep to read instead when Lorelei burst thru the door, slamming it behind her. Red stared at her from the bed. She was still naked, and breathing heavily. "I didn't think you'd be back…"

Lorelei carefully approached Red; after Regina's pillow beating, she wasn't trying to move too quickly. "I didn't mean to leave you. My magic pulled me. Regina was having a nightmare and I woke her. We spoke and then she threw me out and I ran back here."

Red watched Lorelei creep back to the bed, sitting on the very far edge. "She threw you out?"

Nodding slowly, Lorelei scooted a tiny bit closer to her, "yeah. She yelled at me for leaving you and threw a pillow at me."

Red laughed quietly. Perhaps Regina hadn't turned away from her as much as she thought. She finally realized why Lorelei was creeping. She thought she was going to get another fluffy beating. Red grinned at her and let the sheets fall away from herself. She sat with her back against the head board and blushed as she watched the other woman tilt her head and stare at her chest.

Rolling her eyes Red snapped her fingers until Lorelei met her eyes again. She loved her goofy smile, "are you going to come back to bed or stay down there?"

Lorelei jumped at her and they spent the rest of the night enjoying their new relationship.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The days slipped by as the three women found a sort of schedule. Lorelei slept with Regina every night, Red didn't want her having nightmares just so she wouldn't be lonely. It was also very awkward for Lorelei to pop into her room naked and run thru the halls. In the morning they would have breakfast together and then Regina would tend to her duties and Red would keep the siren busy. The evenings they mostly spent together with an understanding that Regina wasn't ready to see them making out every five minutes.

Red and Regina had taken time to have a conversation discussing their situation. It had involved a lot of tears and Lorelei getting set outside the room when she kept interrupting. Regina told her everything she remembered about Daniels death and Red told her of the carriage ride and the days of Lorelei's recovery.

"It doesn't really make sense Regina," Red finally told her after they let Lorelei back in. "I mean, why did they order his death?"

Regina shook her head, frowning. "When I asked mother she said that Snow had seen him attack me and had called the guards. She said that is what happened when I told Daniel I was marrying the king."

Red frowned, "but you don't remember anything?"

Regina shook her head, "I remember closing my eyes after Snow left, and then I opened them to see Daniel being hung."

Lorelei shrugged, "I remember hitting the floor in the kitchen and then waking up in a shack with Red."

Red sighed, "well, I remember seeing Lorelei fall and Regina passed out in a chair. Then, of course, your mother tied me in a carriage…"

Regina winced, "she said she needed you to be away for a few days so I could concentrate on the kings proposal."

Red rolled her eyes, "if you ask me, your mother drugged the two of you and got rid of me so I couldn't help either of you."

Regina shook her head, "she wouldn't do that."

Lorelei stared at her in disbelief, "then what happened to us Regina?"

Regina shrugged, "mother said that it probably has something to do with me being in shock from the proposal. She said your siren magic probably…"

"My what now?" Lorelei interrupted.

Red and Regina shared a wide eyed glance. They hadn't wanted to tell her until they could learn more about it. Red cleared her throat and took a deep breath, "Cora told us that you're a siren. We wanted to learn more about them before we told you because you tend to have a lot of questions."

Lorelei glanced at them both then shrugged and started bouncing a ball a servant had given her against the wall. "Sounds nice. Siren."

Regina huffed in irritation, "that's it? It sounds nice? Don't you want to know where you came from or if you have family or what your kind are capable of?"

Lorelei didn't even look at her or stop bouncing her ball, "not really. I know I am supposed to protect you and whenever I need my magic to do that better, it happens."

Red giggled at Regina's angry stare, "well, we want to know."

"Anyway, I want to know what Cora was doing while us three were out of commission." Lorelei said.

Red nodded, "yeah but asking anybody would be extremely odd."

Regina made a sour face, "actually, I was planning on asking Snow. She was obviously there, she spoke his sentence."

Red couldn't help but hear the contempt in her friends voice. "Why would she not think it odd for you to ask?"

Regina sighed heavily, "because that child will tell the same story ten thousand times over and be more enthusiastic every single time. In this story she thinks she's the hero so she should be plenty happy to retell it."

Red stood, ready to head off to bed, "well when the king leaves you will certainly have the chance. She'll be with you for three weeks solid."

Regina and Red jumped when a vase broke across the room. They stared at Lorelei who very slowly kicked her ball under the bed as it rolled back from a pile of glass. The servants came in and started cleaning up the glass. Lorelei quickly kissed Red then crawled in under the blankets, hiding her face.

Red said good night to Regina and once the servants left, Regina crawled under the blankets with Lorelei. They curled up and before Regina fell asleep, she whispered to no one in particular, "maybe this can all really work…"

…..

Rumple sat down hard as he finally let the mirror image go. He was shaky and exhausted but it was worth it to see that conversation. It was so draining to see the siren in the mirrors. As she grew, it got harder. He imagined before much longer he wouldn't be able to see her at all.

He wasn't happy with what he saw though. A content queen Regina wouldn't cast his curse anymore than a poor peasant Regina. He went back to spinning gold so he could concentrate.

Belle was bringing him tea again. He didn't ask her to anymore, she just did. She was still nervous when she sat the tray down though. That one chipped cup seemed to weigh on her mind. He sipped his tea and thought out loud. "She watched her true love die. Her friends are flaunting their love in her face. Her best friend steals her other best friend every chance she gets. Why does she still have hope?"

Belle chewed her lip. She knew he wasn't talking to her. She had never been very good at minding her own business… "Uhm, Rumplestiltskin…"

He turned to look at her, he had forgotten she was there. "Yes?"

Wringing her hands, Belle took a deep breath before speaking, "maybe, whoever you're talking about, is stronger than you thought? Some people are just more resilient."

Rumple giggled wickedly, "everyone can be broken, Belle. Everyone has a price that they put on their hope."

Belle frowned and nodded, choosing to finally stop trying.

Rumple ignored her again and decided to move up his plans. If she didn't think she needed more, he would show her otherwise. After all, the best way to corrupt someone was to make it their idea.

…

Regina had been sitting with Snow all morning. She had chattered on and on endlessly, showing her all her things. Regina finally found time to ask her what happened that day.

Snow frowned at her hard and took her hand in hers. "Regina, you don't remember?" When Regina shook her head, Snow gave her a very pitying look that made Regina clench her jaw. "Oh, Regina, I'm sorry. I followed you to the stables and I heard you call out. I went in and that boy was on the ground. You said he attacked you." Snow straightened up, looking so very proud of herself. "I called the guards and told my father to never let that boy go. Papa ordered him to die and he let me give the verdict."

Regina had tears, it made no sense. The only thing making sense was how proud this child looked about killing Daniel. When it was at last time for lunch, Regina told Snow to go without her and she would find her afterwards. The moment Snow was out of sight, Regina ran.

She ran past the gates and straight towards the forest. She never planned to stop. She never wanted to look at that child and see how proud she was that she got to order Daniel to his death. She was running until vines whipped out from the trees around her and caught her, suddenly she was hanging by her arms and legs in the trees.

A flash of light and a silver sword cut thru the vines and Regina dropped to the ground heavily, falling to her knees. Lorelei was staring at the sword in her hands. It wasn't metal, her magic made it. She felt the pull and next thing she knew she had a sword and was cutting Regina loose.

She concentrated and made the sword vanish as Cora appeared in a cloud of smoke. She looked down on Regina "I had considered I wouldn't need these catch traps Regina. Where do you think you're going?"

Regina was crying as the siren helped her stand, holding her close and glaring at Cora. "You need to keep your magic to yourself, Cora."

Cora sneered at her, "and you need to do your job." Lorelei looked surprised. Cora took a step closer, "I want you to think long and hard about what she would be running to. She has nothing. She is nothing. The only thing she has is this palace and her crown. If she runs off into the world, she'd be dead by morning."

"I would protect her."

Cora huffed a laugh. "You always show up a few moments after she realizes she's in danger. If a bandit had come behind her and slit her throat, she would have realized the danger and you would have appeared just in time to watch her blood hit the ground."

Lorelei frowned, looking down at Regina who was clinging to her shirt. "I would be too late…"

Cora smiled, "exactly. You should be thanking me for stopping her before something happened too quickly for you to handle."

Regina wrapped her arms around her and whispered thru her tears, "please, just take me to my room…"

Cora stepped forward with her hand out, intending to take them there, but Lorelei's eyes flashed violently, making her jerk back. "I will."

Cora inhaled sharply when they vanished in a flash of light. Lorelei had never vanished intentionally before. She had never conjured a sword either… Cora licked her lips, wondering if she had provided Lorelei with more power by accident.

…..

Red had waited outside Regina's room. She didn't know where they had gone so she decided to just wait here. She heard a crack inside and poked her head in very quietly. She saw Lorelei gently put Regina down on the bed and sit beside her, whispering so quietly, Red couldn't catch anything except, "I'll tell her."

Red held her breath as Lorelei stood and walked towards her and the door. The siren motioned for Red to step outside the room. She quickly explained everything that had happened and Red felt her heart clench in anticipation of what she was going to say next.

Lorelei took a deep breath and looked Red in the eye, "Cora is right. If Regina had kept running, she could have been dead before I got there."

"But if she doesn't leave the palace…" Red tried to change the womans mind, but she knew what was next.

Shaking her head sadly, the siren looked away when she spoke, "Red… it could happen here just as easily. I can't keep leaving her alone…"

Red bit her cheek in an effort not to cry. "So, you won't be spending your days with me anymore?"

Lorelei shook her head.

Red nodded and stormed off, Lorelei called after her, but of course, she didn't follow. Couldn't leave Regina in her bed, obviously. Red threw open her door and let herself cry for an obscene amount of time.

…

Regina felt the siren sit beside her again. She heard what they said, the door was left open enough for her to hear. She was so conflicted. She wanted them to be happy, they were her friends. But, she also heard what her mother said. Lorelei always showed up a few moments after the fact…

She had Lorelei tell the maids that she had suddenly fallen ill and told them to entertain Snow. Then they just laid there for the rest of the evening. Dinner was brought to them and they ate together in silence. Lorelei tending to glance towards the door, and Regina pretending she didn't notice.

They were ready to go to sleep finally when Lorelei was suddenly shielding her from something in the room, eyes flashing.

Regina peeked around her when she heard an impish giggle. She looked at this man who had appeared in her room. He had scaly golden skin and a demonic grin.

Rumple waved at the pair. He wasn't trying to feel the sirens strength again. Once was plenty. "Ah, no need to get all flashy dearie. I'm just here to chat a little bit with Regina."

Regina gave him a curious look but touched Lorelei's shoulder, asking her to calm down just a little. "Who are you?"

The man giggled again and gave an elaborate bow, "my name is Rumplestiltskin and I am here to help you!"

Lorelei scoffed at him, "she doesn't need help."

Regina winced at the woman, "help me how?"

"Well, I was going to teach you magic dearie, but if you don't need me…" he raised his hand to vanish again but she called out.

"Wait!" She pulled Lorelei back to stand beside her instead of in front of her. "Can you really teach me magic like my mother?"

He cackled at her but lowered his hand. "Your mother has next to no abilities at all. You, however could surpass her by a hundred fold, I can feel it in you."

Suspicious, Regina asked him, "how do you know?"

With a mischievous grin, he knew he had her now, "why, because I'm the one who taught her, dearie."

…..

So now they had a new schedule. Lorelei did not like the new schedule. Regina spent her mornings with Snow and her, but as soon as the child went to dinner, Regina was to be left alone to learn with the imp. This left Red with Lorelei, which sounded nice. But, the siren was always so worried about Regina being alone with some magical scaly thing, it was hard to enjoy their time. The longer this went on, the later Regina seemed to be coming to bed.

Red was watching as Lorelei paced the room. "Lorelei, why can't you just relax?"

Lorelei shook her head, she felt horrible for stressing thru their time together. She just couldn't help it. She took a deep breath and sat beside Red, resting her head on her shoulder. "I'm sorry."

Red rolled her eyes and patted her leg, "I know. Do you think it would help if you could see what they were doing?"

Lorelei thought for a while and eventually decided to talk to Regina. She just needed to know she was in safe hands. She was able to calm down a bit with the thought.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

It took a few hours, but eventually Regina gave up and agreed to let her go to one session of magic lessons. Regina had her arms crossed and was staring at the siren when Rumple popped in to the room. He looked from the angry Regina to the intensely staring Lorelei.

"Ah…" Rumple pointed to Lorelei and whispered at Regina loudly, "she's still here dearie…"

Sighing heavily Regina pursed her lips, "yes, she is. Apparently, she cannot relax while I am with you because she doesn't know what we are doing."

Rumple cleared his throat, "oh. Well, wouldn't want her being distracted while playing with her pup now would we?"

Lorelei stepped towards him, looking even more furious but Regina put a hand on her shoulder, "he's jut teasing. You can watch this one time and that's it but you must behave." Lorelei nodded and Regina shot a meaningful look at Rumple before taking a seat.

Rumple understood but it was ridiculous Regina thought to tell him to be careful. He had felt her power when she was an infant, he hadn't forgotten. He took a seat with the two women at the table and decided to let Regina handle this. She smiled and conjured a tiny fireball in her hand, tossing it from hand to hand for a few minutes, pretending to concentrate.

Lorelei was interested, for a while. But she quickly grew bored. "Is that all you can do?"

Regina let the fire go out and glared at her, "I just juggled magical fire, is that not enough?"

Lorelei rolled her eyes and produced a ball of silvery flames, and then two more balls of them. She stood and juggled them higher and higher and casually added a few more. She was showing off, but Regina was impressed.

"When did you learn to do that?!" Regina asked as the woman let them go out.

Lorelei shrugged, "just now. But, I have been juggling regular balls for a while."

Rumple swallowed, he did not want to teach the siren new tricks. "Ah, right, well, tiny fireballs is all I've taught Regina so far. We will probably be doing this for a few more weeks I think…"

Lorelei groaned and put her head on the table, missing the look between the other two. "Seriously? This is stupid. I'm out."

Regina smiled and watched as she nearly ran out the door. She let out a breath and her and Rumple stood, he placed the familiar leather cord around her wrist and they vanished in a cloud of his magic. She looked around at the forest, "thank you for playing along. She can be rather insistent at times."

Rumple nodded, "understandable. I'm sure you didn't want her here for this lesson…"

Regina swallowed hard as a massive white unicorn appeared in his smoke. She had refused this for some time, but spending time with Snow had pushed her to this point. She silently apologized to the beast and then she pushed her hand in and removed it's magical heart. She stared at it in wonder. She had seen this, but never done it herself. She looked at Rumple pleadingly.

"Crush it, this is your last chance. I won't let you try again."

Regina felt a tear roll down her cheek, but she squeezed hard and fast, watching the unicorn fall to the ground heavily. Rumple was clapping and rambling on about finally starting her real training. She silently prayed her two friends never learned what she had just done.

…..

Red was reading in her chambers, not expecting to see Lorelei until the next evening. When her chamber door burst open she jumped to her feet and was immediately crushed in a tight embrace by the woman. She fell off balance from the impact and they both landed heavily on the floor. Red was trying to disentangle her dress when she heard Lorelei laughing. "Don't you dare…"

The threat came too late as Lorelei started tickling her and didn't stop until she was crying from laughing too hard. Finally, looking down at Red she said, "let's go run."

Red caught her breath finally and pulled the woman down on top of herself, kissing her hard, "that sounds perfect!"

They both jumped up and sprinted thru the halls, the servants flattening themselves against the wall as they passed. They were used to it by now. Most didn't even interrupt the conversations they were having as the two women bolted past them.

Once outside, they darted for the forest. Red shifted and they took off at top speed. Lorelei could just barely keep up with her, but Red always kept an eye on her to make sure she didn't fall behind. They ran a path straight to the lake nearby and once there, they both jumped in, Red shifting in air. As they both came up for air, Lorelei was breathing hard. "You've gotten faster Red."

"Or maybe you haven't ran enough lately?"

Lorelei thought for a moment then seemed to come up with an idea. She grabbed the other womans hand and they swam to the shore together. Once there, Lorelei closed her eyes and frowned deeply. "What're you doing?"

Lorelei peeked one eye open just long enough to glare at her, "magic. Hush."

Red nodded and waited. After a few minutes, the sirens silver runes began to softly glow. Then, the bare space on her throat flashed and new runes were put there. Lorelei opened her eyes triumphantly and before Red could say anything, she began to change.

There was a blinding light, and when Red could look again, there stood the most beautiful silver haired wolf she had ever seen. She gasped and held her hand out, gently stroking the wolfs head. She smiled at her wolfsiren and shifted to wolf herself. It took a few minutes but eventually, Red was able to talk to Lorelei the way wolves did.

" _you're beautiful!"_

" _Thank you. Not as pretty as you though…" Lorelei nuzzled at Red before jerking her head towards the woods. "Run"._

They took off. Red had been slowing herself to keep pace with Lorelei, but now, she could really run with her. They ran as fast as they could, keeping side by side as the trees whipped past them in a blur. They both smelled dark magic at the same time, and they both stopped instantly, silently. They crouched low, hiding behind the bushes as they crept closer. They finally could see, just as Regina crushed something and a unicorn fell to the ground screaming in pain.

They both stared as Rumple spoke to her, "very good! Now that I know you are capable of taking a life, we can begin your real training!"

Lorelei backed away silently, Red following close behind. They ran nearly back to the castle before Red shifted just after Lorelei. The siren was wide eyed and pacing feverishly. "What was that?! What did she do? Did she kill that beast?"

Red was horrified at what she saw, but not as shocked as Lorelei. She had sensed a darkness in Regina since Daniel died. It was only growing. She shrugged, "I don't know. I think she killed it. I saw Cora pull out a servants heart once, it looked the same to me…"

Lorelei whipped around to face her, furious, "Regina is not Cora!"

Holding her hands up in defense she tried to calm the other woman, "no, she isn't. I just mean, I think she had that creatures heart in her hands, it's magical heart. When she crushed it, well… the unicorn died."

Lorelei looked like she didn't know what to do with herself. She was running her hand thru her hair and gesturing at the forest. "But, how is she in the forest? I can feel her in her room where I left her."

Red frowned, Lorelei had always known where Regina was. "Let's go look in her room?"

Nodding, the siren bolted for the castle, Red close behind. They opened Regina's door… No one was there. Lorelei walked to a spot in the room, waving her hand thru the air. "I can sense her, right here. I don't understand."

There was a cloud of purple smoke and Regina appeared, jumping back and going wide eyed at her friends standing there, watching her. She put her hand up, "please, I can explain!"

Lorelei stared at her, uncertainty all over her face. "Why can I feel you here?"

Regina winced and slowly removed the leather cord on her wrist, showing it to Lorelei, "it tricks you into thinking I am wherever I put it on at."

Lorelei took the cord and her hands flashed as it fell to dust. She glared at Regina, "do not ever do that again."

Regina sighed heavily and looked at the rug instead of at her furious face. "I won't. But you wouldn't like what I learn…"

Red interrupted this time, "oh, you mean killing unicorns?"

Regina glared at her friend, "How did you know that? Have you followed me?"

Red glared right back, "we went running, we didn't mean to find you. Lorelei thought you were here, after all."

Regina clenched her fists and stepped towards Red, "you just accidentally found me in the middle of nowhere in time to see that? That's a lie! You led her there just to make her disgusted of me!"

Red stepped closer to her and they were within arms reach of each other now, "I didn't know you were there. It was an accident, unlike you killing the poor thing for no reason. You're becoming a monster Regina!"

Regina threw her hands out and meant to shove her, but her magic wasn't entirely reliable yet. She blasted her backwards. Regina watched helplessly as Red hit the wall and crumpled there.

Lorelei rushed to her and sat on the floor, holding the woman close and saying her name repeatedly. She looked at Regina, of all people, for help. "Regina, she's not waking up. Please, help me?"

Regina was crying now, but she couldn't make herself move. She looked around, trying to think of something.

Lorelei growled at her, not helping. She put her hand on Reds chest and watched runes flash onto her palms. A bright silver light radiated from her hand and was absorbed into the chest under her hand. Red's eyes shot open and she gripped Lorelei's shirt like it was her only lifeline.

"Oh! You're ok!" Lorelei held her tightly and rocked her gently as Red started crying heavily into her shirt. She glanced at Regina, "you've been just fine hiding from me for weeks. You can make it one night."

Regina was trembling when the two vanished in a flash of light. She collapsed onto her bed, curling up into a lonely ball and crying herself to sleep.

…

Lorelei gently laid Red on the bed and after managing to make her let go of her shirt, she arranged the blankets and undressed them both. She crawled in next to her and was immediately locked in a death grip as Red cried. "I was dead. She killed me. I was dead."

Lorelei kissed her forehead and kept smoothing her hair, calming her down slowly. "It's ok. You're ok now."

Red pulled back and looked her in the eye, "I can't stay here. I can't stay here with her. You have to come with me, please. You can't stay here."

Lorelei stared at her, "Red, you can't leave. I can't leave…"

Red closed her eyes tightly, refusing to let go, "I have to. Lorelei, she used her magic, and she killed me. She isn't Cora, but she is becoming just as bad. I know you can feel it. It's been growing in her. Come with me…?"

Lorelei let the tears fall, and slowly shook her head. "I can't. I won't leave her, you know I won't."

Red let out a long breath. "I know… I just wished you would."

Lorelei was at a loss. She wouldn't leave Regina, but she didn't want Red to leave either. She used her hand to make Red look at her again. "Do you still love me?" Red nodded and Lorelei kissed her deeply, trying to push her feelings into it, to make sure Red knew. "I love you Red. I always will, no matter where we are."

Red nodded, heart racing from the kiss. "I know. But I can't stay…"

Putting a finger on Reds lips to hush her Lorelei whispered, "just tell me you love me."

Red smiled and kissed her passionately. The kisses tasted like salt from the combined tears and they stayed face to face as they moved over each other with loving movements. Red said nothing except 'I love you' over and over again. When she moved to look down on Lorelei she made her say it over and over again, moaning and crying as they said their good byes for the rest of the night.

….

Regina woke with a start. She felt something pulling at her, from her chest. She rushed to throw on a robe and ran down to the main floor of the palace, that's where the pulling took her. She slowed and slowly approached Lorelei who stood at the open man door near the front doors. This was what was pulling her. She gently put a hand on Lorelei's arm as she looked past her and saw the figure of Red running towards the tree, a small pack on her back.

"Will she be back?"

Lorelei shook her head, she looked exhausted, as if she hadn't slept. She had cried, a lot. "No. She will not come back." She turned to look at Regina, frowning, "I understand now."

"Understand what?" Regina tried very hard not to cry, but her friends pain was so intense. She knew this was all her fault.

"The inside pain you told me about. Remember? We were five, or six. Cora had yelled at you and told you that you were disappointing. You were crying and I could feel the pain, but I looked you all over and found nothing. No bruises, no cuts or scrapes. You told me that it hurt on the inside." Lorelei pointed to her chest and turned to stare back out the door. "I didn't understand, but now I do. It hurts on the inside. It hurts a lot."

Regina nodded and gently tugged her away from the door. They slowly made their way back up the stairs and to their chamber. Regina helped Lorelei out of her clothes and had the servants prepare a hot bath. They both climbed in and Regina washed her friend like they always used to do. They hadn't washed like this since coming to the palace. Lorelei had been bathing with Red.

Once finished, Regina guided her friend to bed and covered her up, crawling in with her. She held her and comforted her, the same way the siren had done for her so many years ago.

Regina stayed in the room, long after Lorelei fell asleep. She had told the staff to watch over Snow, and she even told Rumple to come back in a week. She stayed in the room, and she took care of her friend. For nearly three days, Lorelei only got up to tend to necessary needs. Finally, Lorelei sat up and scooted next to Regina who was leaning on the headboard reading a book.

"I won't leave you."

Regina smiled at her, "I know. Because you can't".

Lorelei cupped her face and made her look at her in the eye, "I won't because I won't. I could, but I won't."

Putting her book down, Regina shook her head, "Red told me that too. She told you that too."

"But she lied." Lorelei seemed to lose focus for a minute, but she shook her head and looked back to Regina. "She lied, because she was scared. But I won't get scared. I will always be with you."

Regina leaned against her and whispered, "I know you won't. We're going to do this together."

Lorelei leaned in to her, she could sense the darkness, but she didn't know how to save Regina from herself. "I'll be here with you."

….


	12. Chapter 12

**Alright. Time to jump ahead a couple times. If you're still with me, hold on. I'm getting somewhere, promise.**

Chapter 12

The days got colder, and the palace got darker. Regina no longer bothered to tell Snow she was feeling ill. She just told her she was too busy to look after her. When she was in councils and meetings, Lorelei would play with her. They would run around the palace and play in the garden together. Regina saw it as entertaining the child, but Lorelei saw it as having someone who wasn't so dark all the time to be around.

Once dinner time came, the siren ate with Regina and then they went to the spot in the forest with Rumple and Regina learned everything he could teach her. He would grind his teeth every time he taught her something, because he knew he was teaching Lorelei too. The siren didn't participate, but he knew she learned just as much, if not more than Regina did.

Cora eventually found out about it and was not happy in the least, but she couldn't stop the dark one, and soon she wouldn't be able to control Regina either. Instead, she became an actual mother figure. She would sit with Regina in her meetings and give polite advice. She would calm her when things went badly and praise her when she did everything correctly.

Everything was falling in to place for Rumple, and out of place for Lorelei. Regina was getting darker, snappier and moodier. Lorelei mostly just watched her and said very little. There wasn't much room for her since Rumple taught her and Cora advised her and Regina could defend herself quite nicely.

By the time Snow had turned 15, the king decided she finally needed to learn how to rule. He demanded she stick to Regina closely throughout the day, learning how to give commands and make decisions. Snow told him however, Regina did not want her around. Not only that, but Snow didn't like the decisions Regina made.

Leopold decided he'd had enough of this faux marriage and Regina playing queen.

Lorelei flashed into the middle of a council Regina was closing up. "Regina! I need to speak with you, now."

Regina considered sending her out and reminding her that she is not to be interrupted, but the siren looked very serious. She dismissed the people, they were all but done anyhow. Once they were alone, Regina asked, "what is so very important?"

Lorelei got close to her so she could speak quietly, "the king is planning to publicly divorce you on Snow's 16th birthday."

Eyes wide with shock, Regina glanced around quickly before speaking to her quietly, "how do you know that?"

"I was finding books for Snow to read to me when he and one of his advisors rushed into the library and slammed the door. I vanished, but didn't leave. They discussed it entirely. The king is afraid of you and Cora so he is waiting until Snow is old enough to take the throne, in case you decide to kill him."

Regina nodded, "go find my mother, bring her to our chamber. Tell her nothing." Regina watched as the siren vanished in a flash. Her blood was boiling. She had done nothing but work for that man and raise his murderous child and this is the thanks she was going to get?! She huffed as she waved her hand and appeared in her room just as Cora and Lorelei did.

Cora tore her arm from the sirens grip, "this had better be damn good Regina. You've no right to send your pet to fetch me."

Regina hushed her and told her what was being planned. She saw Cora start thinking. "Obviously, I intend to surprise him with his own death before he can destroy everything I have actually worked for."

Cora shook her head, "no. You can't be anywhere near him when he dies. We must find a way that will show everyone we did not do it."

Lorelei sighed heavily from the shadows. She gave up arguing the lighter side long ago. Instead, she went to the window and looked out over the forest. She often stared out there when Regina and Cora, or Rumple got like this. Dark and evil. She wouldn't leave her, but she couldn't save her from herself. She had tried…

….

Red was buying spices at the village market when a crier raced to the square and hopped up on the well wall to shout out, "THE KING IS DEAD! THE KING IS DEAD! SNOW WHITE WILL BE QUEEN ON HER SIXTEENTH BIRTHDAY! QUEEN REGINA WILL HOLD THE PRINCESS'S THRONE UNTIL THEN!" then he ran to his horse and sped off, presumably to pass the news to the next village.

Red quickly bought her spices and raced back to the cottage her and Granny lived in. She threw open the door and shut it tight, talking quickly to Granny, "king Leopold is dead. Snow White will be crowned when she turns 16 in 4 months. Regina holds the crown til then."

Granny frowned and shook her head, "I'd bet my last copper either Regina or Cora killed him finally. I'm surprised it took them so long. Poor Snow doesn't stand a chance of reaching her birthday…"

Both women jumped when a loud crack sounded in their main room. Red lost her thoughts when she stared into those silver eyes. "Lorelei…"

The siren found her breath again, she had been stunned to see Red after so long. She took a deep breath and looked behind herself, pulling a terrified looking Snow White out from behind her. "I didn't know where else to take her…"

Granny inhaled sharply and reached for the girl, pulling her to sit on a stool and check her over. "Well, she isn't hurt, and I don't smell dark magic on her. What's going on out there Lorelei?"

The sirens face deflated and she closed her eyes tight before staring back into Red's eyes. "Regina is taking the kingdom. She intends to kill Snow within the hour. She has guards outside her door, but I don't need doors."

Snow started crying loudly, mumbling against Granny who was trying to soothe her. "Why is she doing this? I don't understand!"

Granny pulled the girl up and took her to sit on the chair instead, calming her down. "It's not your fault, but Regina has decided it is."

Lorelei looked like she wanted to say something to Red, but couldn't. Red finally took her hand and led her outside and a little ways from the house. Lorelei turned towards her and caught their hands together tightly. "Red… I tried so hard, to save her. But… I can't."

Red smiled at the woman she still loved very much. "I know. I'm just so relieved to see you are still good. You're not soaked in darkness, you're still my Lorelei. You can't save her, you know you can't. But don't you dare let her pull you under with her. You just protect her as best you can, but don't you fall down that pit. Please?"

Lorelei nodded and wrapped her arms around her love, holding her tightly. When she pulled back, Red pressed a gentle kiss to her lips. She stared into her eyes, "keep her safe Red. Keep her safe, and away from Regina. She's really good."

Red nodded and let her go and headed back for the cottage. Snow was watching at the window. "I remember you. You're Red. You came with Regina and Lorelei, but you didn't stay."

Red nodded, "yeah, I had to get out."

Snow smiled sadly, "you love her, don't you?" Red nodded again. "Why did you leave her there alone with Regina?"

Red laughed bitterly and showed Snow around as she told her story. It involved crying, naturally. But in the end, her and Snow were brought closer together.

….

Lorelei was sitting in the library when she heard Regina scream in frustration. She listened to her shouting orders to find Snow. She listened and she waited. She tried reading a book, but she could never pay attention to them unless someone read to her. Eventually, Regina threw open the library doors and stormed towards her. Lorelei stood and looked her right in the eye.

"What the hell did you do?!" Regina shouted at her once they were nose to nose.

"I took her away from you." Lorelei calmly replied.

"You took her away? Do you have any idea how much trouble that child could cause me?"

"She's a child, Regina. I wasn't going to let you kill her."

"Oh, but it was fine that she killed Daniel?"

Lorelei groaned, "she did not kill him. Her father ordered his death, she just pointed and gave the command. According to her, you told her to. I still think Cora set it all up."

Regina spun around and blasted a table to relieve some stress. After a few moments, she collected herself and face Lorelei again. She wasn't getting into this argument again. "Okay. I understand. I do. But you're going to make me a deal, right now." Lorelei frowned at her. "If she does cause me problems someday, if she tries to take this kingdom from me, you will not protect her."

Lorelei sighed, "Regina, you never even wanted to be queen. Why are you doing this?"

Regina smiled darkly, "I didn't choose this, you're right. But now, it's all I have so I might as well make the most of it."

Lorelei shook her head and sighed again, "I will never protect her over you. If she attacks you, then, she can be dealt with as an enemy. But, until then, she is a child."

Regina rolled her eyes, "fine." She then looked the siren up and down, noticing her stained clothes and dirty nails. "When was the last time you bathed?"

Lorelei shrugged, "no idea. When is the last time you bothered to ask me to join you?"

Regina laughed then, a light laugh, an honest laugh. Something she hadn't done much of recently. She held out her hand and when Lorelei took it, she walked her back to their chambers. "Are you saying I have been somewhat too preoccupied lately?"

The siren simply shrugged, "you have been busy. Killing things, killing people, terrorizing children, making potions. You're busy playing the part of an evil queen."

Regina nodded, "well, I believe that's what I am supposed to be dear."

Lorelei handed her a book she had held onto, "you're going to read this to me later."

Regina took the book and frowned, "how do you know I won't be busy?"

The siren smiled at her, "you won't be, I just cancelled your plans for the evening. You know, the whole 'kill Snow White take kingdom' thing."

Regina laughed again, "if you were anyone else I would be furious and likely incinerate you on the spot."

"If you were anyone else, I wouldn't be talking to you."

"nonsense, you talk to other people."

"Not like I talk to you…"

They continued their banter back and forth as if it were a normal day. The guards who were loyal to Regina were quickly replacing the old guard, some had to be killed of course. The staff was trembling in fear of what would come next. Some servants ran off, Regina said to let them. Cora was busy writing proclamations for the other kingdoms letting them know Regina was now the soul queen to the White kingdom. It was all very nice. It was all falling in to place for nearly everyone.

…..

Red spent all day every day trying to make Snow capable of handling the world outside the palace. The girl had been coddled and sheltered. She was a spoiled princess. Fortunately, Red needed a distraction from seeing Lorelei again. She thought she could handle her feelings for the woman. She hadn't ever stopped thinking of her, of course. But she had managed to not think about her all day every day for a few years. But now… Now all she could think of was her lips on the sirens. The heat of their bodies together…

Red grunted as a stick poked her harshly in the ribs. She glared at Snow as the girl dropped the stick and looked both terrified and sorry. "Oh! I hit you! I'm so so so so sorry!"

Red rolled her eyes, "you're supposed to try and hit me Snow. That's the purpose of sparring." Red shook her head and berated herself. She let herself get so distracted by the damn siren that Snow managed to hit her with her insane stick waving. "Let's get some lunch?"

Snow nodded and they walked back into the cottage together. It had been nearly four months now since Lorelei had brought her here. She had learned very little, but considering how she was raised, it was quite an accomplishment.

As Red walked in the cottage, she stopped short as she caught sight of a woman who positively sparkled. Literally. The tiny woman was wearing a funky blue dress that was shaped like a plate around her waist. Red crinkled her nose at her, she smelled odd. Lots of magic, and just something… odd.

Granny waved Snow over and looked happy to shove her towards the odd woman. "Snow! Look! The blue fairy has been waiting for you to come in. Quick, talk to her and do it out of my kitchen."

Red eyed the woman again, "blue fairy? You mean you're Ruel Ghorm?"

Nodding and smiling happily, the blue fairy stuck her hand out to shake hands with Red. "Yes! You're Red, it's a pleasure to finally meet you!"

Red eyed the outstretched hand, but she didn't want that smell on her. "No." Blue withdrew her hand looking mildly offended. "Ah, you're here for Snow, so… go chat."

Granny huffed as they walked outside together, "I wouldn't shake it either. Fairies always have an odd odor to them. It's not light or dark magic, Red. It's grey." At Reds confused look, Granny elaborated, "Cora has dark magic, used for pain and suffering, and self gain. Lorelei has light magic, used for happiness, joy, fun. Fairies, well… It seems every time they use their magic, someone is very happy and someone is very unhappy. It's like they can't accomplish creating happiness without simultaneously creating misery. I don't like them."

Red nodded, "I agree." She helped her Granny make lunch and it was ready by the time the fairy and Snow came back in. Snow looked very focused and somewhat pale. Red immediately pulled her away from the fairy who again, looked mildly offended. "Snow? Did she do something to you? Are you okay?"

Snow gave her friend a weak smile, "I'm fine. We just talked and she has convinced me…" Snow took a deep breath and glanced at Blue who urged her to continue. "She convinced me to take back my kingdom."

Red and Granny stared at her with slack jaws. Granny spoke first, "Snow… you can't even properly lace up your own boots. How the hell are you going to take back the kingdom from Regina?"

Snow pressed her lips together firmly but answered through clenched teeth. "I am getting the hang of lacing boots. I never had boots before and I certainly would never have had to lace them myself. It's very difficult!"

Red contained her laugh, just barely. "Okay. So, Regina, you know the one everyone has dubbed the evil queen? Yeah, how are you going to take back your kingdom from her?"

Blue stepped up then, "the fairy nation will support her, and many people in the kingdom still hope to stand with her. She just has to rouse the kingdom and find support. Maybe the neighboring kingdoms will help also."

Granny and Red shared a doubtful look, but Red shrugged, "if you say so."

Snow beamed happily and hugged Blue, "we can do this! I know we can."

…

Regina groaned loudly as she listened to her soldiers reports. "How is it that one tiny girl can evade an entire regiment of siren trained soldiers?!"

The soldier licked his lips nervously, "my queen… the people support her. They will tell any story to send the men in a hundred different directions."

Growling, Regina was moments away from breaking his neck when Cora cleared her throat, catching Regina's attention. "Regina, darling, di you ever consider asking Lorelei to find her?"

Regina rolled her eyes and waved a hand to dismiss the lucky soldier. "Mother, Lorelei wouldn't find her. She doesn't think the child deserves death. Unless that brat grows a set and comes after me, Lorelei won't help at all."

Cora narrowed her eyes, "How exactly did Snow escape?"

Regina pursed her lips and decided to change the subject, "Lorelei does what she thinks is right mother. Leave her alone. Besides, she is busy training the soldiers. After these ones are trained she will be going to the other stations and forts to train them as well. Peasants flock to fight for her, she has already increased my forces by threefold."

….

Lorelei had been training troops non stop for months. She was trying desperately to take her mind away from the kiss Red had given her. It wasn't working. Every time she taught a man to hold a sword, she remembered learning sword with Red. She remembered sparring with her, and that melted into laying the grass with her. Of course, that only led to pushing her into the grass, which became kissing in the grass and, naturally…

She blinked rapidly as the noise around her stopped suddenly. She followed their eyes down to her stomach and her eyes widened as she took sight of the sword protruding from her mid section. She thought idly that it should hurt more, but she was losing strength rather quickly, she slumped to her knees as she vaguely saw a swirl of purple smoke and heard a shout. Before she knew it, Regina was holding her.

She stared up at her, smiling. "Hi Regina…"

Regina looked frantic with tears in her eyes. She was speaking, but Lorelei couldn't understand what she was saying. She felt herself jump as the sword was pulled out of her. She saw Regina take a deep breath and close her eyes tightly with a hand on her torn stomach. Just before a blackness took her over, life flowed into her. Her eyes opened wide and all the sounds of the world came rushing back to her. She was breathing heavily and Regina was laughing and smiling and holding her very close.

A swirl of purple smoke, and they were on their bed. Lorelei felt tired, but unhurt. She poked at her stomach, amazed that not even a scar remained. "How did you do that?"

Regina lifted her head from the sirens shoulder and shrugged, "I felt the pull, I came to you and then I pulled the sword out and poured my magic into you. I'm not entirely sure how it worked. What I'm more interested in, is how that peasant managed to stab you while sparring."

Lorelei had the grace to blush and squirm a bit before she answered, "my mind was elsewhere."

Regina smiled at her and put her head back down. She knew exactly what could have distracted her so much. "you were thinking about Red."

Lorelei didn't answer, instead she let herself drift off to sleep. Regina laid there for nearly an hour before he eyes opened wide as she realized exactly why the woman would suddenly be completely focused on Red after all this time. She had seen her, not too long ago. Maybe about four months…

…..

Rumple listened to the conversation after the sirens incident. He couldn't see her at all anymore. But he could listen. He had destroyed an entire wing of his castle when he learned she had nearly died. He didn't want her dead, at least not yet. But he wanted a way to kill her if he ever needed to. The problem he had come to find about sirens, they learned and developed immunities. He had made many trips to the siren isle under the guise of making sure the agreed shipments were delivered. He had seen sirens hatched. He had watched as the older sirens taught them magic simply by doing it in front of them. He had also seen them become immune to death by facing it. He had watched a young siren get stabbed in the chest and then healed moments later by another siren. Immediately afterwards, they tried to stab her again, but the blade wouldn't pierce her.

Lorelei might be far behind the sirens who hatched after her, but she learned just the same. No blade would be able to pierce her skin again. Fortunately, she didn't know that yet. He intended to keep her as ignorant as possible for as long as possible.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Regina was waiting for the perfect moment to strike at Snow White. She had decided that Red and Granny were traitors at best for housing the child. Lorelei she forgave, of course. The siren was rather naïve and had an unfailing moral compass. She had to wait until Lorelei was at another post, preferably far off so she wouldn't hear of the attack until it was done. Her men were very strictly ordered not to harm Granny or Red, they were just to capture Snow White and bring her back to Regina. She was sending a hundred of her finest troops so they should be able to handle the job without harming those two.

Lorelei would never forgive her if Red got hurt.

Finally, the siren announced she was going to the far eastern border to train the men there. She would leave at dawn and return to go to bed for the night before returning again. This meant she would have little to no contact with the hundred troops who were currently at the palace. The trick was they had to return from their mission before Lorelei did or she would sense something was wrong in the palace. So Regina planned to transport them to and from the cottage by magic.

Regina sat up in their bed and managed to eat dawn breakfast with her siren. She was trying to hide her excitement, especially on the inside. If the woman thought she was excited to have her gone, it would end up an all day affair of convincing her she loved having her around.

Finally, Lorelei left. Regina waited just an hour before bouncing out of bed and dressing in her very best long black gown. It pushed and pulled in all the right places and made every eye stare at her. At least until they remembered who she was.

She reminded the troops of their orders and went about attending to her daily tasks with her mother who was just as excited as she was.

….

Rumple had a devilish grin on his face. Regina's plan was perfect. The only thing that could go wrong, is if the siren found out. Wouldn't that be a shame? If the siren saved her little girlfriend? Of course, the only way to save the wolf would be to also save Snow. Now, that… would certainly irritate our little evil queen. He needed the siren to keep her alive, but he also needed Regina to lose some of the connection the two had. After all… the main ingredient for his curse called for a heart that was actually crushable.

….

Lorelei had been training troops for just under two hours now. She was doing well at keeping herself focused on the training today. She had just called for the sweating men to go get some water when the vile imp that trained Regina and distorted her views on the world appeared in front of her.

She had her magic sword in her hand in a heartbeat. She glared at him with glowing silver eyes, "you have no business here imp. I told you to never stray towards me."

Rumple gave her an elaborate bow and didn't meet her eyes in his best show of deference. "Yes, I'm aware you are not overly fond of me, but I have news for you that I am sure you want to hear."

Lorelei snorted a laugh and held her sword at the ready, "nothing you say can be trusted."

Not able to hold an impish giggle, he cleared his throat and showed his palms, begging her to hear him out. When she finally lowered her sword and rolled her eyes, he felt allowed to speak, "Your queen is sending a hundred men armed with wolfsbane coated weapons to your loves door in an attempt to capture the fugitive Snow White."

Lorelei stared at him, trying to decide if he was lying or not. "Wolfsbane?"

Nodding eagerly, he licked his lips before speaking again. "Oh yes, wolfsbane is very deadly to werewolves dearie. Very hard to obtain also. But, one nick with a wolfsbane coated sword or arrow head and even the strongest wolves fall dead within days. A full stab or puncture wound and they die within hours."

Lorelei looked around quickly, trying to think. "How can I know you're telling the truth? Regina wants Snow but she wouldn't harm Red to get her."

Rumple shrugged, "only one way to really find out, dearie."

Rumple giggled again and clapped his hands together as she vanished in a crack of light. Regina might deny the wolfsbane, but the damage would be done to their relationship whether the siren believed her or not. He physically pat himself on the back, congratulated his last minute idea.

…

Red was sitting on a stone, watching Snow try to practice with a bow. She was terrible, but she was getting slightly better over time with it. Much better than the sword had gone. Snow had just managed to hit the bale of hay for the second time and was bouncing around happily when a loud crack announced the sirens presence. Red jumped up and stopped as she saw the womans face… and then she saw Granny who looked panicked. Granny never looked panicked. "Lorelei, what…?"

She didn't finish her question before Lorelei shouted "RUN!" The siren shifted into her wolfish form and Granny climbed on as Red shifted also. Snow looked pale and horrified. Granny grabbed her and threw her onto Red before both wolves took off at the fastest speed.

" _Lorelei, what are we running from?!"_

An arrow shot towards Reds side but the siren leapt and caught it, quickly dropping it. _"Regina sent troops to get Snow. The weapons are coated in wolfsbane."_

Red ran even faster then. She knew what wolfsbane was. Granny had taught her well of it's dangers, and it's uses. So they ran. Snow would slip a bit, every so often, but Lorelei would run close and Granny would help her adjust better again.

They ran until just past night fall. The two wolves stopped, both panting heavily. Granny and Snow were just as weary. It might be harder to run so far, but it was no easy task to hold on for an entire day either. Lorelei and Red shifted when their passengers had climbed off. They sat on the grass staring at each other thru the night. No one spoke for quite a while.

"Come on girls, I'll start the fire." Granny groaned as she stood and headed into the trees. Snow was squinting after her, but she didn't have the night sight they all had. Granny realized this and came back to take her hand. "Forgot. Sorry. Just keep walking."

Red waited until they had been gone a few minutes before speaking to Lorelei. "I led us to an old cottage. My mother and Granny used to live in it, before I was born. It'll be a bit run down, but I know no one knows of it. Including Regina. How did she find us?"

Lorelei shook her head as she stood, reaching down to help Red up also. Once she took it, they headed towards this cottage. "The dark one told me about the attack. I don't know why. I assume he has something to gain by me stopping all of it, but I don't really care. I would never allow you to be hurt Red."

Red sighed, "unless I attacked Regina?"

Lorelei stopped and stopped Red too, making their eyes meet. "If you attacked her, I would stop you. But I would never harm you. Please, don't ever put me in that position Red. It hurts to think of it."

Red sighed again but nodded, "I don't want to hurt her. I couldn't care less what she does anymore. But, I also don't want her to kill Snow. That girl hasn't done anything…"

Lorelei frowned but looked to where Red's eyes were staring. She stared too. "I thought you said it was run down?"

Granny and Snow stood in front of what could have been a cottage, many many years ago. Now, it was just a pile of rubble and moldy timber. Lorelei was about to suggest finding a new place when a tiny blue sparkle light popped up beside Snow. Lorelei was ready to smash whatever kind of bug it was but Red held her back.

Blue shifted to her full size form and smiled at everyone, until she landed eyes on the siren. Then she looked incredibly angry. She held her wand pointed at her and asked in a dangerous voice, "what is that creature doing here?!"

Lorelei stepped towards her, getting angry herself, "what the hell are you to call me a creature?"

Blue pointed her wand at her more threateningly as Lorelei's runes began to glow brighter. Red shot in between them, raising a hand to either one to stop them. "Hey, it's fine, Blue. This is Lorelei…"

"I know who she is! She is the only reason Regina has gotten to do all the vile and evil things she has done. Regina was destined to die before the age of 5, but this thing kept her alive! This siren is the reason the entire kingdom suffers!"

Lorelei growled at this sparkly thing insulting her, "Regina does not deserve death. She never has!"

"See?! Even now she defends the evil queen!"

Granny interrupted with a sharp whistle, "Lorelei is a fine woman, Blue. She is the only reason we are alive now at all. She might defend Regina, who is currently trying to kill us all, but she also saved us."

Red frowned at the blue fairy, "yeah, she did save us. Where were you when they were trying to murder us?"

Blue put her wand away and turned towards the house instead of answering, "this will never do." She waved her arms about and bright sparkly blue magic engulfed the ruins. The rubble molded together once again and the timbers regained their firmness and the mold vanished. Before a minute, the cottage was entirely rebuilt wit a fire already lit in the hearth. She turned to Snow, pointedly ignoring every one else. "Now, it is an acceptable place for you my dear. Rest and learn. The people of this kingdom need you to save them from the evil queen." Then she turned into a tiny thing and swooped off into the night sky.

Snow turned to Red, "I have no idea what's going on. But I am starving."

Granny stormed into the house and loudly called out, "great! It smells like fairy farts in here!"

Snow winced as she heard pots and pans banging around. She shrugged and went to see if she could help.

Red smiled at Lorelei, "did you see what she did? The magic?"

Lorelei smiled back at her, anger forgotten. "I did. Why?"

Red bit her lip and took her hand, leading her behind the house. There they found another pile of rubbles and mold. "This was a stable. Think you can do it?"

Lorelei smirked at Red before concentrating her magic. It took a bit longer, but when the stable stood tall and strong again, not only was the hay fresh and plentiful, but it didn't smell like fairy farts. "Ha! Mines better."

Red giggled at her and wrapped her arms around her neck. "Thank you, for saving us."

She grinned at Red and put her hands on her hips, pulling her close. "Thank you for running instead of asking questions."

They smiled and kissed and whispered until Granny yelled for them to come eat. They raced back to the cottage, making it to the table as Granny sat the plates down. They ate very quickly, the way they do.

Snow looked confused, "uhm, do you intend to stay the evening Lorelei?"

The siren glanced at Red then looked to Snow, "yes. I think her majesty deserves a night alone for her behavior."

Red rolled her eyes. "Yeah, that's the tough love there Lorelei. Good job."

Lorelei leaned close to whisper to Red, "you know how her nightmares torment her Red. More than a night would be excessive. Besides, it hurts me when she hurts."

Red smiled an apology, "I know. I'm sorry. I am happy to spend a night with you though." Red winked at her and the sirens cheeks blushed in anticipation.

Snow cleared her throat, "yeah, that's what I'm curious about actually. This cottage has two rooms. I'm not sharing with Granny, she sleeps with a crossbow and I know I'll get shot."

Everyone laughed at Snow's red face. Red finally shook her head and let the poor girl calm down, "Lorelei fixed the stables. We will sleep in the loft there. Close enough should any trouble arise…"

"Far enough away that I won't be cursed by my wolf hearing." Granny grumbled.

This time Red blushed. Granny might be too old to shift, but her hearing was excellent. She thanked Granny for cooking and told Snow goodnight before taking her siren by the hand and practically carrying her to the hayloft.

….

Regina was beyond furious. She had never been so angry in all her life. The perfect plan, trash. How did Lorelei find out? Where was she now? Where the hell was Snow now? She stared at the captain of the troops sent after them and asked again in a deceivingly calm voice. "Tell me again, captain."

The captain was trembling in his armor and sweating his life away under that cold gaze. He swallowed numerous times before he could speak to tell her again of the days details. "We appeared where you sent us to, in the forest. About a mile from the cottage. We approached silently. The scout reported only the old woman was there. We waited until we confirmed Snows location, further in the woods. Just before we spilt into a third to take the old woman down silently, there was a flash of silver light in the cottage, and then another. We rushed in, but it was empty. We then raced to the woods and arrived just in time to see a black wolf carrying Snow, and a silver wolf carrying the old woman, race off into the forest faster than any horse could full gallop. We lost the trail immediately. It was as if they were never there."

Regina nodded and sipped her wine. "You say this light looked as my sirens light does?" The captain nodded, trembling harder now, but he nodded. "Calm down, captain. That is what I think too."

The captain visibly relaxed a bit. He had worried he would be killed for insinuating the siren was a traitor.

Regina smelled the air and wrinkled her nose, "what the hell did you roll in out there captain?"

Confused, the captain smelled himself, "ah… nothing, my queen."

"You reek of something. It's like blood and decay."

The captain patted his sword, smiling. "oh, that's the wolfsbane, majesty."

Regina turned pale and leaned forward, " the what?"

"The wolfsbane you put on our weapons."

Regina weighed her options. This was why Lorelei had not come home. She thought Regina meant to kill her Red. She would never, but she had a pretty good idea who would. "Go, gather every single weapon infected with the wolfsbane. If you miss even one, you will die a very slow death. Gather all the men who went with you as well. Miss one and they will die a very slow death with you."

The captain wavered on his feet before turning and sprinting out of the throne room. Regina waited a few moments then used her magic to cast her voice in every single corner of the palace, screaming at an ear piercing volume, "MOTHER!"

Servants dropped and clutched their ears and babies started wailing. Cora shivered and composed herself for her daughters obvious anger. She then appeared in swirl of smoke near the throne with a smile. "Yes dear?"

Regina grabbed her by the collar of her gown pulling her close, "did you put wolfsbane on the troops weapons?! Do not lie to me!"

Cora was genuinely confused and stared at her daughter, "wolfsbane? No, why would I? Do you have any idea how difficult it is to even find wolfsbane? To coat 100 troops weapons would take an impossible amount!"

Regina released her and thought on what she said. Then her look took on a very dark shadow when she realized exactly who could have managed to collect so much of the stuff. "Rumplestiltskin."

A high pitched giggle announced his presence behind them. "Yes dearie? You called?"

Regina fixed him with a glare that would cause a normal man to faint. "Why?"

Taking a seat in a dramatic manner, Rumple savored her furious look for a few moments before answering. "You are far too trusting of the siren. I have simply proven to you where her real loyalties lay."

Cora looked back and forth between the two, "what the hell is going on here? Where exactly is Lorelei?"

Regina sighed, "with Red."

Cora finally put everything together and nodded, "I see. She thinks you sent troops to kill the love of her life and she left you to sleep with the enemy." Cora pulled Regina in to what she hoped was a comforting embrace. "He's right, you trusted her too much darling. Now, I'm sure she will be back, but she has left you for now."

Regina pulled away from her mother, "she hasn't left me mother. She will never leave me. If I needed her right this instant she would be here. She is just furious at me. She intends to punish me by leaving me to my nightmares tonight. She will come back to me."

Cora raised a brow and was already forming a plan. "My, what a clever girl that Snow White is…"

Regina frowned at her, "what does she have to do with any of this?"

Rumple stepped in, "why, she has attached herself to Red. Lorelei will always protect Red, almost as well as she protects you. Therefore, if little Snow stays close to the wolf, you will never reach her. Your former best friend and your guardian stand like an impenetrable wall between you and your revenge."

Regina growled in frustration. They were right. Especially her mother, love is weakness. Her love for her friends was now stopping her from getting her revenge. She wanted to tear her hair out in frustration at the entire mess. She eyed her mother and the dark one in turn before speaking, "what can I possibly do now?!"

Cora grinned and cocked a brow at Rumple, "yes, what ever can she do now, Rumplestiltskin?"

Cackling madly, he told her of his greatest curse. All she had to do was go get it, and a few minor ingredients. Silly man forgot the main ingredient, must've slipped his mind. Oh well, by the time she gathered it and all the other things, she would be more than willing to sacrifice the thing she loved most. It would definitely not be an immortal sirens heart.

….

Lorelei spent an entire week with Red, Granny and Snow. She made several quick jumps to check on Regina though. Aside from the night terrors, she was fine. Incredibly angry and taking it out on her hundred troops from before, but fine. She was helping Red try and get Snow better adjusted to the outside world and it seemed to be going better with them both teaching her things.

Snow could hit a target at nearly a hundred paces now. Of course, Red and Lorelei could kill a man at two hundred and at least nick him at three. But she was becoming impressive at a human level. Lorelei was just watching Snow run to retrieve her arrows when a man stumbled out of the trees and towards the hundred pace away Snow.

With a flash, Lorelei was there in a moment, Red not long after. Snow screamed and hit him right in the face with her bow, cutting his chin fairly deeply. He was exhausted and fell to the ground at their feet before being able to speak, his chin bleeding.

Red picked him up and carried him inside, after all, they didn't know who he was, but he now knew where they were. They couldn't just let him die, but if he woke up he could run off. Granny held something under his nose that made him jump awake. Lorelei held him down on the floor with the tip of her boot, not wishing to touch him anymore.

Snow was staring at him, fascinated, from behind Red. He looked around and quickly quit fighting to get up. "Where am I? Who are you?"

Red shook her head, "nope. You first buddy. Who are you and how did you come here?"

He nodded, trying not to stare towards Snow who seemed to hide from him. "Uh, I'm Dav…" he cleared his throat, "I'm Prince James of…"

Snow made a weird noise and cut him off, "You're prince James! I've heard of you! But, I thought you were to marry the daughter of king Midas? What are you doing running thru the woods?"

James blushed, "yeah, well, as it turns out, she already had a true love. I helped her find him and they're good so… I'm not marrying her. Which is why I'm out here. My father, king George, is rather ticked about it all and has ordered my death."

"Oh no. My stepmother Regina took my kingdom and I think she had my father killed also."

James looked heart broken for the girl. "I am so sorry. If Regina took your kingdom… you must be Snow White! I was told you were the most beautiful woman in all the realm…" He smiled at her and blushed and then she blushed.

Then Lorelei made a gagging noise and went outside, Red close behind, rolling her eyes. Granny sighed heavily, "well, James, I guess you might as well stay here. But you're sleeping in a tent outside. We lock doors too." She gave James a warning glare before going onto make dinner.

Red and Lorelei were sitting and relaxing several hours later when Snow and James came running outside, holding hands. Snow was beyond excited and jumping around like a child. "We figured out how to save both of our kingdoms!"

Red exchanged worried glances with Lorelei, "and how is that?"

Snow clutched James hand tightly, "we will be married! Then, his father will welcome him back because I am a princess and heir to a wealthy kingdom. All he needs to do is loan me his army!"

Lorelei frowned at the girl, "you just met him, and this is crazy, and you're sixteen, so chill out maybe?"

Red tilted her head, "yeah I'm gonna agree with Lorelei on that one, especially since the way she said it was really catchy…"

Snow started to protest but Lorelei waved her hand and James vanished in a crack of light. "Where did you send him?!"

"Not telling. Let's go get dinner." Lorelei walked away as Snow was still shouting for her to bring him back.

Red smiled at the siren, "that was horrible. They were so in love…"

Lorelei smiled back at her, "yes, I could tell by the way they knew nothing but each others name."

They laughed as Snow finally came and sat inside, pouting. Granny never even asked what happened to him. She just served dinner and then went back to knitting a blanket.

…

Prince James landed hard in King Georges courtyard. The guards immediately shackled him and drug him before the king. King George screamed at him and told him he has not even half the son the real James had been. When finally allowed to talk, David told him all about meeting Snow White and how they planned to marry.

"The White kingdom would be a very powerful and lucrative addition to my own…" The king thought about it, and the more he thought, the more he decided not to kill this lookalike prince.

…..


	14. Chapter 14

**Moving along, moving along. At some points later in the story, flashbacks are likely to fill in all the empty spaces created by time jumps. To my guest reviewer: I completely understand your concern! Without giving away too much, I can assure you that Regina will be the primary focus after the curse hits. That said, I would recommend waiting to quit this fic until after the curse turns everything upside down. I don't know if you will like it better, but based on what your concerns are, I think you might.**

Chapter 14

Lorelei decided two weeks away was more than adequate punishment for Regina's behavior. She told everyone good bye at the cottage and place several barrier spells around the area to keep any more lost princes from wandering in.

Once back at the palace, she waited in the bed chamber for Regina to rush in, looking somewhat ragged and definitely exhausted. She simply crossed her arms on her chest and waited for Regina to speak.

Regina gently closed her door and slowly approached Lorelei. Once within arms reach she spoke gently, trying desperately to put her feelings into her words. "Lorelei… I know you're angry with what happened. I understand. But I need you to listen to me and believe what I am telling you. I planned for 100 men to capture Snow White at Reds cottage. I did that. But, I also told them not to harm Red or Granny or even Snow in any way. That's why I sent so many men there. The dark one put the wolfsbane on their weapons, not me. I can't even begin to imagine how to collect that much of it to begin with. I never would have brought harm to either Red or Granny. I swear it."

Lorelei listened and weighed her words. She knew she wasn't lying though, she could feel it. She finally sighed and met Reginas eye, "I believe you. I see now why the dark one warned me of the attack. He wanted me to save them and irritate you. But why?"

Regina was struggling to keep her fury at the dark one in check. "I think he just wanted me to see that you could be so angry at me that you would leave me. But…" She smiled at her and looked down. "You didn't leave me, not entirely. I know you checked on me several times a day. You just didn't think I knew it."

Lorelei was wide eyed in shock, "you knew? Ugh! That defeats the whole purpose of me staying away!"

Regina laughed just a little and put her hands on her arms to calm her, "no, I assure you, I heard you loud and clear. No more attacks will be sent as long as Snow is with Red. I won't chance it again. I can't stand being without you."

Lorelei smiled down at her and pulled her into a hug, "I missed you terribly."

Regina sighed heavily and hugged her back just as tightly before pulling away and smiling brightly at her. "I did something, but I wanted to wait until you came back to enact it."

With a curious look, Lorelei followed her down the halls and into her study room. On the desk was a large parchment covered in Regina's hand writing. "I'm not reading that."

Regina laughed and picked up a quill to sign it, making it official. "you don't have to. It states that it is not strictly outlawed to kill a wolf unless it is directly threatening your life. It also states that killing werewolves is a higher violation of this law and the penalty is death for wolves, and torture then death for werewolves. The only way anyone is allowed to kill either one is if they are directly attacking someone, and even then, it would have to be proven."

Lorelei beamed at her, "right now, under Leopolds law, werewolves can be hunted to no end, wolves too. Why are you doing this?"

Regina shrugged, "Red was my best friend, until our issues. I still care very much for her. I want to protect her. I want to protect all of her kind, and the wolves too. The entire dark forest surrounding my dark palace is to be a sanctuary for those who wish to live in peace from mankind. Word will spread very quickly and I already have a man in charge of ensuring that game numbers stay high enough so they can hunt freely."

"Who is the man in charge?"

"He calls himself the Huntsman. He's a strange man, so strange, you might even like him."

Lorelei laughed at that. Most men she met smelled horrid and had an ego far larger than they deserved. "I will meet him tomorrow maybe."

…..

For a while, Regina seemed to give up on her revenge. She refused to send troops after her since she was with Red. She focused herself on managing the kingdom and of course, gathering the ingredients for a certain curse. She had been doing rather well, obtaining nearly everything needed. She had to find a woman named Maleficent to get the actual curse though. Apparently it wasn't something Rumple could rewrite.

"Lorelei please! I already told you, you cannot go with me. Maleficent has magical barriers that simply won't allow anyone, even you to pass thru uninvited. She is very selective and I'm lucky to have gotten her to agree to meet with me." Regina repeated herself for probably the 32nd time this hour.

Lorelei growled, "you can't go to some incredibly powerful dragon ladys house without me!"

It had been two years since the wolfsbane incident. Since then, Lorelei had been home with Regina every night, but spent most of her days away with Red. It seemed to be balanced quite nicely. However, now, Regina intended to be gone nearly a month without her. They both knew it would be horrid, but Regina had to get that curse. There was no other way to get to Snow. Rumple had assured her that this curse would allow her to rewrite everyones life any way she saw fit.

Considering the rumors she had heard of Snow landing herself a prince from some random kingdom with an army, she needed to get this curse before she lost everything.

Finally, the siren relented. She was furious, and hurt, but Regina had to do this. She kissed the sirens cheek and told her not to worry at all and sent her to be with Red, then she used her magic to take her to a barren land far away from her kingdom.

…

Lorelei arrived in the forest by a lake where Red should be waiting. Instead, she found Snow and the liar prince necking. She screamed so loud and high pitched, the pair flew apart to cover their ears. When she stopped they both stared at her, furious.

Lorelei smiled and said loudly, so they could hear with the ringing in their ears, "where's Red?"

Snow pointed into the trees and yelled, "that was not necessary!"

Lorelei headed off and shouted back, "yes it was Snow! You may not know this, but he has a penis in his pants and he will try to use it before marriage!"

David blushed deeply and covered himself hurriedly, "I would never try that!"

Snow was giggling and blushing, "go find Red!"

Lorelei rolled her eyes and headed off to find the woman. When she did, Red was smiling and wrapped her in a tight hug, "I thought we talked about you telling women that men had penises?"

"We did. But I don't think she knew."

Red just laughed and was intent on enjoying their entire uninterrupted month together. Snow however, had plans for that same month.

Lorelei didn't think before she spoke sometimes and let it be known that Regina would be unreachable for a whole month. With the help of Davids armies, they began taking back her kingdom, one area and castle at a time.

…..

Regina hadn't really considered taking a lover since Daniels death. The thought tended to come with several horrid memories of Daniels death and King Leopolds attempted rape. It also reminded her that Red had nearly suffered a similar fate.

But this Maleficent… well, she was strangely alluring to her. She had an intense fire in her eye that made Reginas heart beat a bit erratically. She spoke with a smoky tone close to her ear as se shared magical secrets of the dragonkin with her. Her finger tips seemed to always be barely caressing her skin as she showed her how to move when they danced. The woman was intoxicating. It didn't help her resolve any that she missed Lorelei so very badly. She could almost feel her siren touching her instead of Maleficent.

It had only taken little over a week for the dragon lady to get Regina into her bed. It had only taken a full two weeks for Regina to take control of their intimate encounters. For just a moment, Regina considered staying here with this woman. Maybe this could be her happiness at long last. She wasn't in love with Maleficent, but it was something, at least. Mal wanted her, and showed only her any attention. Of course, there was no one else, but still.

Near the end of the fourth week, just when Regina had thought to extend her stay another month, Rumple himself broke thru Mals barriers. She was infuriated and shifted into her beastly dragon. The sight of the beast took Reginas breath away, and nearly her life as the dragon aimed for the dark one with her flames and Regina narrowly missed being roasted herself.

Rumple cackled madly as her danced in the dragons fire. "You can't scare me away dearie! Now, open wide!"

The dragon swooped down, intent on eating the dark one but as she opened her mouth, he threw a massive egg like object down her throat. Once she swallowed in shock, he waved his hands and she froze there in the air. He turned to the shocked Regina making a tsk tsk noise. "Did you forget your mission dearie?"

Regina stared in disbelief at the frozen beast before her. "What if I don't want this anymore? What if I could just be happy here, with her?"

Rumple giggled, "I won't unfreeze her. She will remain this way until you cast my curse and release her. Besides, she isn't your true love, so why bother?"

Regina looked to the ground and let it go, "I don't really want revenge on Snow anymore. She hasn't wronged me since Daniels death and I don't think she has been especially happy anyway. Running thru the woods and robbing coaches, it can't be very fulfilling."

Rumple created a large mirror in front of her and Snow appeared in it, laughing and dancing in a fine gown. Her and her prince were dancing on a fine ballroom floor. In fact…

Regina inhaled sharply, "that is my summer castle! What the hell are they doing there?!"

Rumple smiled again, wrapping his scaly fingers around the mirror, "she stole away the kingdom while you dallied with the dragon witch. Maleficent didn't mention the time slip her barrier causes, did she?"

Regina frowned at the frozen dragon, "time slip?"

"It has not been nearly four weeks. It has been nearly a year. Snow White is getting married in her summer palace soon. All the kingdom is hers again. Oh, and guess who are her dearest friends?"

The image swirled to reveal Red and Granny smiling as they watched the dancers. The blue fairy was chatting avidly with a bunch of dwarves and everyone looked so happy. Happy, and in her palace.

Regina had tears running down her cheeks and was trembling with rage. She had been missing for a year, and they were dancing. Lorelei was missing, but she knew Rumple couldn't see her with his glass. They were so happy without her in the world. She lashed out and shattered the mirror, turning to the dark one. "I have everything I need now. Take me to cast your curse."

Rumple cackled and they vanished in his smoke. When they reappeared, they stood in the dark palace. Everything was as she had left it. But how? Had Snow not taken everything? Where was her guardian? She should have felt Regina return.

"Regina!" Cora threw herself to embrace her daughter in a genuine hug. "Oh, I thought you were dead! Where have you been? Snow has taken everything!"

Regina hushed her hysterical mother, quickly explaining the time lapse. "Mother, how are you here in this palace? If she took it all?"

Cora huffed haughtily, "I came here when all else was lost. I used my magic to safe guard this palace and the dark forest. All this land is still ours. Fortunately, that declaration you enacted for the wolves has helped a great deal. I told them you would return, and be very displeased if you didn't have a home. They banded together in the dark forest to keep Snow's forces out. In fact, they keep most everything out. There are somewhere around 600 beasts out there. I don't know how many werewolves versus wolves, you would have to ask the huntsman. He keeps track I think."

Regina sat heavily and tried to process all of this. It was going to take a while. So she sat and listened as her mother told her every detail of the past year, but her mind kept wandering to her guardian. Where was she?

….

When Regina did not return or send word after five weeks, Lorelei was officially in a hysterical panic. She couldn't find this Maleficent's hide away and the dark one refused to come when called so he could help her. She even kidnapped his little serving girl to try and lure him out. The girl was treated very well, and eventually freed after several months. She was a great little woman actually, Lorelei quite liked her. Belle had insisted taking her would do them no good though. Apparently, she had been locked up ever since she kissed the dark one.

She ran off to go adventuring or some such nonsense, Lorelei didn't really care. Her and Red traveled the realm in search of this dragon lady, but no one had any answers. The closest they came was to a kingdom where a princess named Aurora had been put into a magical sleep, her and the whole kingdom actually. The neighboring kingdom said Maleficent had done it, but they didn't know how, or why, or where the witch was now.

After ten months, they returned to the White kingdom in a depression. They had searched everywhere, but they couldn't find Regina. Lorelei had always sensed where she was, but when she left that day, ten months ago, the sense stopped. She knew she lived, but couldn't come up with a direction at all.

The pair had lost hope when they came back to the summer palace. It was in Snow's command now. In fact, all the kingdom was, except the dark palace. That was where Cora took a stand apparently. Red wanted no part in any of it, she just wanted desperately to find her old friend again. It was killing her to watch Lorelei crumble from despair. The siren blamed herself for allowing Regina to do something so stupid.

They did little but mope around the countryside, until Rumple finally showed up. Lorelei grabbed him by the throat immediately screaming at him to bring her back, to find her.

He was allowed to breath again and hastily told her, "make a deal with me!"

Eyes wide with rage, the siren shook the man until he was nearly passed out, "how dare you?"

Gasping for air, the dark one said loudly, "I will only bring her back to you if you do me a favor first! You can kill me a thousand times and I will always return. She never will unless you do as I ask."

Red touched her arm to make her put him down, and then he promptly moved out of arms reach, "Lorelei, we can't find her. Maybe hear his deal?"

After the pissed off siren nodded at him, he cleared his throat and told her, "all you have to do, is hop over to Wonderland, get me a little trinket box, and hop back. Once I have it, I will return Regina to you." He then went into great detail what the box looked like.

Red scoffed, "yes, because it's that easy to hop to another realm."

"It is if you have to right tools dearie." Rumple waved his hand and a raggedy man with a tall hat appeared holding what looked to be a hat box. "This is Jefferson. Jefferson can take you to Wonderland. Once there, get my box and bring it to me."

Lorelei eyed the raggedy man, "what's in it for you, Jefferson?"

With a tremor, he said, "the dark one has sworn to help me find my daughter which I suspect he stole in the first damned place."

Lorelei nodded, she understood Rumple all too well. "Fine."

Red took her hand and nodded, "I'm going too."

Rumple shook his head, "no, your werewolf magic would not be compatible. Neither is mine. Sirens however, are capable of wielding their magic anywhere. You would die."

Lorelei calmed Red and convinced her to stay. "Red, you must swear to me… If I do not return, you have to protect Regina. I know she seems so strong, but she really is still the little girl we grew with. You have to be patient with her. Remember she wasn't born the evil queen. Cora and this filthy imp made her what she is. Someday, you and I, we will bring her back again. Swear it." Lorelei waited for the teary woman to nod and kiss her good bye, only then did she release her and nod for Jefferson to get on with it.

They jumped thru his hat hole and landed in a crazy room with many doors. He stopped her just before heading thru the one for Wonderland.

"Listen very carefully. Wonderland is not what it seems, it is in fact what it doesn't seem." He held a hand up to stop Lorelei's confused questions. "It makes no sense at all. Up becomes down while down becomes sideways and sideways isn't a way at all. Nothing is what it is, because everything is what it isn't. If you turn left, you are headed south, if you turn right you are swimming upriver. It's nothing like it should be, unless it should be something else already in which case it becomes more than what it was." Lorelei was staring at him with a worried look and he sighed and wiped his face in exasperation. "You'll see for yourself. The important thing here is that the way this portal works, however many go in, must come out. The two of us go in, two must come out again. You can't come back on your own, and neither can I. We also cannot bring another back with us. Do you understand that part?" The siren nodded. "Fine. Then let's step into a world where anarchy and chaos are calm and orderly and straight lines are made of squiggles. Oh, and don't eat or drink any damn thing!"

"Wait! Wrinkledimpleskin didn't tell me where this box is! He just said what it looks like."

Nodding Jefferson smiled faintly, "that's because if you knew where to look, you would never find it. You have to wander around blindly to find what you seek."

"Wander around?! How long exactly do you intend to get lost in Wonderland?"

With a grin that would likely match his favorite subject in Wonderland, Jefferson gestured for the door, "trust me, my dearest siren, not all who wander are lost."

…

Regina was pacing her chamber, beginning to become very concerned for her guardian. There is nothing in any realm that could keep Lorelei away from her. She would never leave her, not ever. Regina had no doubts on the matter.

Finally, word came from outside the forest. The werewolves were confused as to whether two people should be allowed inside. Apparently they had shown up shortly after Regina returned, begging entry. The wolves had stood firm with no, but the werewolves had more thought and became confused as to the two strangers.

Regina listened and finally conjured the image on her mirror. She knew it wasn't Lorelei, Cora's magic would never stop her. She nearly swallowed her heart when Red appeared on the glass. She immediately brought the pair to her chamber.

Red stared around for a few moments before finally setting eyes on Regina and then she just sank to her knees and starting sobbing. The man with her backed away until he hit the wall, trying to vanish into the shadows.

Regina approached Red slowly, not sure where their relationship even stood at this point. "Red…?"

Calming herself enough to breath, Red just shook her head and pointed behind Regina. She spun around and the dark one stood there, holding an odd box. "Yes, she's been a mess since about the time you came back." He cackled madly while looking at Red with mock pity.

"Red, where is Lorelei?" Regina asked her without taking her eyes off Rumple.

Between broken sobs, Red managed, "she… didn't… come back!"

Confusion seemed to be her only emotion lately, "back from where exactly?"

The man in the corner found his voice suddenly as Rumple fixed him with a glare. "Wonderland, she is trapped in Wonderland. She gave me a message for you." He glanced at Rumple who gave him a tiny nod. "She told me to tell you that she is sorry. She said she is sorry for not coming back. She wanted…"

Rumple giggled again and waved his hand, sending the strange man to who knows where. "She made a choice, and that choice took her away from you. But remember, she did make the choice to stay in Wonderland, I assure you."

Shaking her head, Regina gently pulled Red to standing and held her tightly. Now she understood why Red was completely distraught. "Red, please, what's happening?"

Rumple cleared his throat and held the box out to her, "the final ingredient to the curse. Cast it, and you will be able to right every wrong, including this one."

Regina took the box and opened it. Inside was a magical heart, mostly black, with just tiny slivers of red shining thru. "A heart? Who does it belong to? I have to kill someone to cast the curse?"

Cora burst into the door, wide eyed and pale, she immediately stared at the box in Regina's hands. "How did you get that?!"

Rumple cackled again, "it's amazing what that guardian is willing to do for your daughter."

Cora looked into Regina's eyes, trying to smile but shaking with the effort. "Regina, darling, you couldn't possibly consider killing me for some ridiculous curse?" Then she glared at Rumple, "how could you do this?!"

Red reached past Regina and closed the lid on the box. "Regina, do you really want to do this?" 

Looking at her friend, Regina felt her own heart clench. Her mother was all she really had anymore. Her father had died a few years ago, and she never really knew the man anyway. Now, Lorelei was lost in Wonderland, apparently by choice. Cora was all she had left… Then she had a thought. She opened the box and removed the heart, speaking into it directly and watching Cora's face twist in horror. "Did you arrange Daniels death?"

Cora's face was turning red, trying not to answer, but when Regina squeezed it a bit, she finally burst out, "Yes!"

Regina sent her mother away with her magic. She loved her mother, more than anyone she had ever known. But she would crush her heart to set everything right again, to get back her happy ending. She slammed the box shut and vanished in a swirl of purple smoke, leaving Red behind to cough and wait for her to come back.

"How am I supposed to protect her if she can poof away?!" Red sat on the bed and waited impatiently, hoping Regina would return.

…

The ceremony was very nearly done, they were married and happily ever after was just starting. Just before they sealed the marriage with a kiss, the massive doors sprang open, banging into the walls loudly.

The evil queen, in all her dark and gorgeous glory pulled the breath from every onlooker, and every eye too. Cocking a brow at the attention she simply said, "sorry I'm late." The crowds sprang away from her to press into the walls. The guards rushed her but were sent flying with barely a flick of her wrist. She stood in front of Snow White in her perfect wedding dress and the man she assumed was the liar prince Lorelei spoke of. "My, what a perfect wedding for a perfect little girl. So… perfect." She grinned as Snow turned red in anger at her sarcastic tone.

"Leave us alone Regina. You lost. I won. Just go away and leave us be!" Snow shouted at her.

David held her back, pointing his sword at Regina who chuckled at it. "Leave us, witch. You won't win. Evil never wins over good."

Regina took a moment to laugh in his face, "oh, very good! What a wonderful husband you will make, liar prince."

David frowned and his sword dropped a little, "that's what Lorelei called me…"

Snow looked around, "where is she?"

David realized as Snow did that although the evil queen was never an easy target, without her siren, she was a bit easier. Regina saw them catch on and turned away, walking out as she called behind herself, "enjoy your happiness while you can children. It is going to end, very soon."

David threw his sword as hard as he could at her back, shouting as he did it, "HEY!"

Regina turned as her magic smoke enveloped her. She stood in her chamber as Davids sword hit the mantle behind her. Red jumped up and grabbed her arm, tearing the fabric there. "Regina! You're bleeding!"

Regina looked down in stunned silence, her arm was bleeding. The sword had cut her… Just barely enough to bleed, but it had cut her. She frowned as she touched the blood and looked at her fingers, "I'm bleeding. Red, I'm bleeding, and she isn't here. She didn't stop it. She wasn't there, and she isn't here."

Red saw the panic setting in and forced Regina to sit while she put a bandage on her arm. She still felt somewhat conflicted towards her. This woman used to be her dearest friend. This woman had also killed her once. Regina was also going to curse the entire realm any time now. Red nearly convinced herself to leave, but she had sworn to protect her as best she could. Lorelei asked one thing of her before leaving. She had to try. Even if it was Regina's fault Lorelei was gone to begin with…

…

Snow White was pacing her chamber again. It had been nearly four months since the wedding and she had not gotten any rest. Regina was planning something, something huge. A curse, Rumple had said. Her daughter was coming, and Regina couldn't be stopped, even without her siren. They had tried everything. Red was no help, apparently she had promised to protect Regina when Lorelei vanished into Wonderland. She still wondered what happened there. Jefferson couldn't speak of it. He wanted to, but he couldn't. Somehow, whenever he tried to communicate about it, his jaw locked up, or his hands cramped. Grace, his daughter, tried to tell them too. She had the same problem. The dark one had a hand in it. He didn't want them talking about what happened in Wonderland.

Snow shrugged out of her thoughts as David called her name. He was beaming, excited for their daughters arrival. She tried to relax, but could not.

…..

Regina worked day and night preparing the curse. She wasn't sure when Red gave up on her, again, but she was a month or two gone by now. Rumple insisted it must be cast the second Snow's child was born, but refused to elaborate on that detail. Well enough, the ingredients had to stew for several months anyhow. Snow could give birth any minute now.

Rumor had it, she found a way to spare her child from the dark curse. Regina dug hard, but all she could find was an old man carving a tree into a wardrobe. Just this morning he had stuffed his own child into it. The alarm rang out. Snow was giving birth. It was time to set her world right again. She winced and let a tear fall as her mother cried out in her death throes. The ash of the blackened heart hit the cauldron. Thick purple smoke rolled out of it. She transported herself to Snow's castle, wanting to witness the pain for herself. After the pain, she would have her siren back. She would never be without her again, no matter the cost.


	15. Chapter 15

**A short one. Just to push events to the tipping point.**

Chapter 15

Regina wore a victorious grin as she listened to some dwarf run thru the castle screaming that the curse was coming. She marched past guards and simply flung them against the stone walls. She wanted to watch the curse hit Snow and her child. She hadn't had time to get it to safety, surely. She climber the stairs towards the royal chambers happily. As she rounded the corner, her troops were fighting with the White soldiers nicely. She allowed herself a moment to watch as they moved. They moved like Lorelei, slower, but so very similar that it made Regina watch, wishing for her guardian. Past the fighting, she saw the liar prince run past a corridor, he had blankets in his one arm and a sword in the other.

She started chasing him then. She just realized… the old man stuffed his son in, but she hadn't waited to see him come back out again. Of course! How could she be so stupid? It was a magic wardrobe of some kind. She swore at herself as she raced to follow David. If that child escaped her curse, Snow would get a last minute victory. That wouldn't do at all.

She finally saw him as he was slowed by two of her men. He cut them down and took a step towards a door when Regina appeared in front of him. "You lose, dear." She smiled at him as his sword was torn from his hand by her magic. She held his sword and pushed it thru him, wanting to watch him die holding his child who would not escape.

"NO!"

Regina spun around in time to dodge a sword aimed for her own throat. She stared wide eyed at the wielder of that sword, "Red? What are you doing?"

Red held her sword firm in her hands. It wasn't an ordinary sword. Lorelei had made this for her, long ago. She had made it with her own magic. It was as powerful as the one she conjured with magic. She wanted Red to have the very best protection. With this sword, Regina's magic couldn't touch her. "Enough is enough Regina. I don't know if killing you will bring her back, or if it will stop this curse, but I won't let you hurt anyone else!"

Regina stared at her as her magic wouldn't touch her. She never wanted to hurt Red. Obviously, Red felt differently. "Red, please, don't do this. This curse, it will bring her back, I swear it."

Red scoffed and slashed at Regina who narrowly avoided the swing. "People swear a lot of things Regina. In the end, we do what we must anyway."

Back against the wall, she couldn't hope to avoid the next attack. She glanced away long enough to see David kick the door shut as he drug himself and the child thru the doorway. She locked eyes with Red again. This was it. Red was going to kill her. This woman used to be her best friend. She mentally adjusted her curse, changing what she thought would be ideal. If it did work after she died here and now, Red could suffer alongside the rest of them.

Regina shut her eyes tightly as Red lunged, prepared for death. There was a crack of lightening and the sound of steel connecting with steel. Lightening?

Opening her eyes, she was staring at the sirens back. She had steam rolling off her flesh. She was covered head to toe in silver runes that were glowing and pulsing with her heart beat. She wasn't wearing a stitch of clothing, Regina could see every rune flashing and it took her breath away.

Thru clenched teeth, Lorelei growled at Red, pushing the woman back violently. "I told you to protect her. You swore!"

Red recovered from her shock and with a broken heart, she knew it was finally time to choose a side. So she chose. "I will not let her destroy everyones lives!"

Regina flinched as their magic swords clashed together at a blinding speed she could never hope to keep up with. They had sparred many times. They were nearly evenly matched. Lorelei was drawing on her magic for strength and speed, her eyes glowing silver. Red was pulling on her wolf to use it's speed and stamina. Her eyes were glowing yellow as they aimed to kill. Regina caught a few drops of blood from a wound on Lorelei's side. The siren made that sword with her own magic. It could hurt her.

Regina looked out a window and her curse was only seconds away. She mentally changed more of it, now that she was going to live. She would never be parted from her siren again.

She rushed thru the door Davids blood trail led to. She found David on the ground, unconscious. The wardrobe was closed and the baby was gone. She threw open the door and her infuriated scream nearly drowned out the sound of clashing steel in the hallway. She watched the curse sweep them up. The sight of the two women struggling to reach each others flesh with their swords as tears streaked down both their faces would always be locked in her minds eye.

…


	16. Chapter 16

**Let me just say, I know in ouat the curse took them somewhere in the 80's. I assure you, no one hates the 80's more than me. So, we are just gonna pretend there is no 80's music or clothes. Just let it happen… No 80's. It's magic, and that means the 80's didn't have to happen. Okay? Okay.**

Chapter 16

Regina jumped awake with a gasp. She sat upright in her bed. Breathing heavily, she looked around at the strange room. As her eyes landed on different objects, memories and knowledge flooded into her. She looked at the vanity and the brush on top of it. She remembered brushing her hair yesterday in this very room. As her mind reeled, taking in all the new things, she reached up and felt her hair. It was short, how odd. But as she thought that it was odd she remembered having her hair cut down the street at the beauty shop not two weeks ago. She took a few deep steadying breaths, allowing the memories to settle in her mind.

She had just decided to get out of bed and dress herself in the nearby walk in closet when she heard the shower in her master bathroom start. She stared, wide eyed at the slightly open door. She could hear water running. Her mind filled with thoughts of the most absurd things like indoor plumbing and the makeup remover in the top drawer. What it did not supply however, was who exactly had just started that shower.

She recalled the peasant turned plumber now named Rick who had fixed a leaky pipe several years ago, but she couldn't piece together who was in the damn shower!

All at once, she didn't want to know. She bolted, quietly, for the closet after trying to dress with magic and failing. She took just a second to admire her collection of fine clothes before picking the perfect outfit for a Sunday morning stroll to the diner.

Just as she hastily finished her makeup and hair, the shower shut off. She heard the glass door open and her heart nearly jumped out of her throat. She ran as silently as possible out the bedroom door and managed to remember she had car keys and a coat in the closet by the door.

In the garage she panicked just a moment before her curse mind supplied her driving skills. She sighed in relief and hopped in her Mercedes. Quickly backing out of the now open garage door, she put it in drive and only swerved a little as she eased towards the diner.

Once parked in front of Grannys, she had to close her eyes and wait for all the thoughts to stop swirling in her mind. She remembered this place. It was owned and operated by Granny Lucas. She smiled slowly as she remembered that Granny allowed her grand daughter to waitress here. Ruby was her name now. She was lazy and disrespectful. She did her job, but was consistently late and always dressed in the most provocative clothing imaginable.

She frowned hard as she got out of her car. She could remember the teeny red shots Ruby wore, but not who was in her shower?! Shaking her head, she headed inside, the bells above the door announcing her arrival. She smirked at the looks of fear and trepidation that passed across the faces of the people she had cursed. Granny herself was doing some paperwork and ignored her entirely.

Ruby was staring at her from the other side of the counter. One of the little men Snow was so fond of sat at the counter looking like he had an amazing hang over. The other people she didn't recognize, more peasants probably. A few men had wide, strong shoulders though. Probably Snow's troops then.

She sat at the booth she remembered was always empty, just in case she stopped by. Ruby was at her table in seconds after she got comfortable. The waitress looked nervous as hell but smiled politely at her. "Good morning madam mayor. Would you like the usual?"

After a second for the memories to settle, Regina simply nodded, gesturing to her coffee cup. Ruby went a little pale, "oh, I forgot the pot, I am so sorry!" She raced off to get the pot and Regina just smiled brightly.

Once her coffee was full, Ruby dashed off to get her order in. Sipping her coffee, her mind tried to tell her the reason Ruby was so distraught around her, but it couldn't quite form. No matter, she deserved to scurry around. She was cursed to always be disappointing her Granny somehow. Never really accomplishing anything at all. Most of all, she was never going to be able to hurt Lorelei again…

Regina sat up then. When she thought of people, the memories of who they were now hit her. But she had thought of Lorelei, and nothing had come. She was thinking furiously, willing something to come to her, but it refused. Not even a twinkle of a thought. Ruby carefully sat her plate down and backed away, probably because of the scowl on Regina's face now. Regina had specifically at the last second demanded her curse to make sure the siren was always with her, but she wasn't here now.

She ate slowly, still trying to force her mind to tell her the answers. They wouldn't come though. She was struck with another thought though. What if the siren magic protected her from the curse? What if her curse couldn't bring her? She immediately thought of a few ways to put herself in mortal danger in an attempt to get her to appear, but then that would take magic. Magic she didn't have here. This was a land without magic.

The door bells chimed and Regina met the eyes of a mousy woman named Mary Margaret now. She stared at her until the now school teacher blushed and hurriedly sat on the first available stool at the bar. Ruby winced and bent low to talk to her, probably trying to comfort her nerves. Oh Regina loved this Snow White. She was terrified of the mayor. Regina's new memories told her that when Snow was young, she was the reason Daniel left town and never returned when she accused him of an attempted rape he didn't commit simply because she was jealous of how much time Regina spent with him instead of tutoring her.

Regina sighed, it wasn't the best back story, but it seemed enough to make Mary Margaret terrified of her. She refocused on her breakfast and ways to summon her siren as the door bell rang a few more times, announcing patrons coming and going. She quit paying attention and focused on reading the paper Ruby had fetched for her. As she read, her mind was becoming whole again with this worlds thoughts nestled in with her real memories.

She was startled out of her train of thought abruptly when someone slapped their hands loudly against her table. She jumped and prepared a whole novel of insults and threats for whoever was dumb enough to do that, but the words died in her mouth. She stared at Lorelei across from her, looking very irritated.

"The shit Gina?" She said loudly.

Nothing. Not one memory. Nothing came to her at all. She just settled for shrugging. "Ah, good morning… Lorelei?"

With a look of being offended, the woman sat back heavily and sighed heavily, "so now we're using my full name? I don't know what I did, because really I was likely asleep at the time, but fuck it. I'm sorry?"

"Will you be swearing this much all day?" Regina asked with a frown.

Not able to hold a hurt look, the woman smiled a little, "sorry. Actually sorry. I'm trying to clean it up. I'm better than I was when we were teens though. Remember? Your mom was always like, 'Rory! You swear like a sailor! One day your tongue is going to rot out of your head'" She used her most uppity snarky mom voice and it worked, Regina smiled at her.

"Slip of the tongue. I, uh… I had a dream where you made me mad… somehow." Regina was fumbling, but Rory seemed to allow it.

Ruby creeped up to the booth, staring only at her little pad of paper. Never looking at Rory. "The usual?"

Rory just said, "yep."

Regina was lost on what was going on here. She chanced sounding like a lunatic and whispered quietly to Rory, "what's going on with you and her?" She gestured discreetly towards Ruby.

Rory did look mildly confused but answered quietly, "did you have that dream where I leave you for Ruby again?" Rory must have taken Reginas perplexed expression for a yes as she continued. "Regina, you know I love you. I might have thought I loved her once, long ago, but we all know that what she did was unforgivable." She reached across the table and squeezed Reginas hands firmly, "but, like I told you, I'm glad she left me. If she hadn't betrayed me like that, I might not have realized how much more I loved you and how much better for me you are. You were there for me when she ran off to see the world." Regina tried to speak, really to ask a million questions but Rory cut her short, "and no, before you ask again, I do not regret staying here to help you mourn your mother instead of going off with her. She left us alone, and I stayed and I realized how much in love with you I am. I couldn't leave you then, and I never will."

Regina was staring at her when she caught a scent of lavender. It caused memories of her shampoo, in her shower. The exact scent she had delivered from New York once a month. No one else had it. Not exactly like it. She knew who had used her shower that morning. She squeezed Rory's hands and sighed heavily. Why wouldn't the memories come for the siren? Maybe that was her magic. This was going to be awkward, she had a feeling.

…

Regina spent the morning trying to figure out the relationship her and Rory obviously had. Were they married? How long had they been sleeping together? Were they sleeping together? Of course they were, why else would the woman be in her shower before she even woke up? She battled a constant rush of emotion every time she let her mind wander toward her… no, their bedroom. Finally, around noon, Rory announced she had to tend to something at a bar.

"It shouldn't take long, I'll be home by dinner. Just need to order the liquor for the month." She kissed Regina quickly and turned and raced away.

Regina touched her finger tips to her lips. She had never kissed Lorelei on the mouth before. It tingled a little. It also caused a heat to rise within her. She shivered, not from the cold and headed to her car to go home again. They hadn't wandered too far, apparently Sundays were just for meaningless strolling.

She got home and familiarized herself with everything. It was still another hour or two til Rory would be home. So, she got back in the car and drove to the graveyard. Rory said they fell in love when her mother died, so she went to where she knew the mausoleum would be. Once there she realized the date was from six years ago. So, they had been together for at least six years?

Groaning in frustration she went home again, to await the next awkward encounter.

….

They made small talk and Regina kept her probing as discreet as possible. She did not want to look like a lunatic with memory issues. That could hurt Rory. Thinking Regina didn't remember them together. It didn't get her too far really, just subtle details.

Rory owned the Rabbit Hole. Regina frowned at that, she hadn't wanted a bar in her happy ever after. But as Rory talked about upcoming parties and events, Regina smiled about it. The siren was in love with her bar, apparently. She loved serving patrons liquor and drinking herself more than a few. She loved the loud music and smoky air. She would tend the bar herself with another person to assist if she drank enough to wander off. There would be loud music and dancing. Lorelei loved dancing, and apparently, so did Rory.

Regina kept her chatting until it was nearing ten. Finally, Rory cracked a yawn and suggested they call it a night, after all, Regina was the mayor and was expected to be in her office very early. They started up and Regina had a moment of panic. She wasn't so sure she could just jump into bed with the woman. She wasn't sure if it was even expected. She stopped short of the stairs and decided to wing it, "oh, uh, I just remembered I need to file a few papers before the morning, I need them first thing. So, no time to do it tomorrow."

"Oh, ok. I'll wait for you then." She started to come back down.

Regina acted as casual as possible, "no, uh, I mean it'll just be a few minutes, 30, at most. Why don't you get in bed and I will be up shortly?"

Rory smiled at her and nodded before giving her a tender kiss, causing Regina's heart to beat erratically. Regina watched her go and bit her lip as she argued with herself. Half of her wanted to go up and help the woman into bed. The other half said no, that it was wrong and she only wanted her because of the curse. She finally sighed and headed to her study to file imaginary paperwork.

She waited 45 minutes before creeping up the stairs. She silently changed into her silk pajamas. They were very nice, but hopefully not sexy enough to suggest intent to the siren. She climbed into bed slowly, thinking Rory asleep already. Until she heard a giggle anyhow. She inhaled sharply, then sighed and got all the way in bed and covered up.

"Nice sneaking. You make more noise than a badger in a hen house." Rory mumbled as she wrapped her arms round Regina from behind her. She pressed them together tightly, Reginas back receiving a few quick kisses as she settled in to the big spoon.

Regina waited, but it seemed this was as intimate as it was going to get. She relaxed and then rolled her eyes at herself. She had bathed with this woman for the majority of her life and now she was nervous and blushing to lay with her.

She decided to just relax and focus on what she already knew had changed. It actually wasn't much. Rory had the same sense of humor and smile as Lorelei did. Of course, Rory smiled much more than the other woman had recently. In this world, silver tattoos would have been very odd, so the curse had turned them black. She still had them, from head to toe. So far, no one seemed to be bothered by it. She'd looked at her own tattoo, it was black also. The hair was still throwing her off though, black hair on the siren was unsettling. Her eyes looked better in silver as well, now they were a very light grey color.

When she thought of Lorelei's name on her chest she got the memory of sitting in a parlor as a woman tattooed her chest. She could remember getting it, and she could remember being very happy and emotional over it. She couldn't put Rory into the image though she felt the woman had been there according to curse memories.

She couldn't remember her until Rory told her of the past. When she had told of how her and Ruby had gone separate ways, she then could remember the hurt and betrayal and how Rory stayed with her during her mothers funeral. It was all very confusing. She finally gave up trying to piece it out and fell asleep, secure in Rory's arms.

….

The week passed in a sort of whirlwind, at least for Regina who was trying to wrap her mind around everything around her. She consistently ran into Mary Margaret who always trembled in fear and looked so very sorry all the time. It was delightful. She recalled how to be a mayor and was surprisingly enjoying it. Everyday, Rory brought her lunch, so that was good too.

The days went past, and by Friday evening, she was getting the hang of things here in her Storybrooke. She was leaving her office and her secretary stopped her just before she walked out to her car.

"Excuse me madam mayor, Rory asked me to deliver a message to you." The older woman was nice enough, but very professional, Regina liked her. She nodded her approval and the lady continued, "she said to tell you she was sorry for not coming to walk you over tonight, but everyone rushed in at five on the dot. She hopes you won't be mad and will still join her for at least a bit."

Regina searched her mind, but she had no idea where Rory wanted to meet her at, or why she would walk her there. Every other day of the week Regina drove home to find Rory waiting happily for her. She finally sighed and tried not to sound ridiculous. "I see. Well, would you like to walk with me then?"

The secretary actually huffed a laugh before composing herself again, "no, thank you madam mayor. I'm afraid I'm too old to be spending my Friday nights at the rabbit hole."

Regina smiled at her, she did like this one. She wondered who she had been before nodding and smiling in an amused manner and heading out to the bar. Apparently she was expected? She checked herself in the mirror, making a few touchups to her hair and makeup. She wasn't trying to look good for Rory, how ridiculous. When she felt pristine again, she considered going home to change, a pencil skirt blouse and blazer seemed too much for a smoky bar. In the end she decided to just go for a drink with Rory before she excused herself politely to go home.

She took a few deep breaths when she got to the door at the rabbit hole, readying herself for the stunned silence that would likely fall as she walked in. She finally opened the door and stepped into loud music, rolling smoke and the smell of beer and whiskey. She had to blink a minute to adjust to the dim lighting and atmosphere. There wasn't a silence. No one looked twice at her. Everyone continued laughing and talking loudly over the music pounding in the background. She looked around a moment, admiring the fearless dancers in the middle of the place, then she listened to what was playing.

Pressed against her face

I could feel her insecurity

Her mother'd been a drunk

And her father was obscurity

But nothin ever came

From a life that was a simple one

So pull yourself together girl

And have a little fun

Her memory came of dancing wildly to this very song, her partner unseen, but she knew it was Rory. She smiled at the half memory and made her way to the bar. At first, no stools were open. But then she caught Rory's eye and then the woman jumped over the bar and physically removed the man sipping a beer at the very end. Once he was on his way, Rory waved her over with a mad grin.

Well she took me by the hand

I could see she was a fiery one

Her legs ran all the way

Up to heaven and past avalon

Tell me somethin girl, what it is you have in store

She said come with me now

On the devil's dance floor

So, Regina grinned back like a fool and sat. Rory bounced back over the bar and started mixing different liquors into a glass. Regina frowned and tried to stop her, "Rory, I hope that's not for me!"

Rory laughed loudly, "right. Because you're gonna sit here and sip tea!" She finished making the drink while laughing at Regina's apparent joke. When she was done and had poured it over crushed ice she gently sat it in front of Regina, "there you go. One majesty's mix."

Regina winced at the very potent drink but decided to try it. After one sip she smiled happily at Rory who looked so very pleased with herself. "It's perfect."

Rory grinned again and leaned over the counter looking to get a kiss for her efforts. Regina blushed furiously but leaned over and gave her a quick touch of the lips. Rory leaned back and started drying glasses while eyeing her suspiciously. "If I measure my drinks by your kisses, I need to make them far stronger from here out." She winked at her and started serving some other people.

Still blushing, Regina turned in her stool to survey the room. She saw Mary Margaret dancing carelessly with Dr. Whale. He seemed more interested in her than the music. It was when she spotted Ruby sipping a drink and talking and laughing with a man Regina didn't know that she got a new memory. This place was something special, she knew that. She knew no one here paid any attention to status or pay rate.

Rory leaned over and whispered in her ear, causing a new blush for Regina. "Isn't it great?"

Regina turned back towards her and did not look down the womans shirt. She hadn't even noticed the low cut tank top Rory was wearing. Not at all. "What's great?"

Rory smiled at her and winked again, "if you weren't looking down my shirt you could pay more attention…" Regina snapped her eyes up and sipped her drink to recover. Rory just grinned. "I meant, it's great everyone remembers the rule here. The one rule we set, that no one was anyone here. Everyone here is shit. Therefore, no one is any better or worse than any other. If anyone feels better than another, they're a wanker who won't be getting drunk tonight."

Regina started laughing and couldn't help but shake her head at the woman, "yes, it does seem everyone remembers." She let her eye get drawn to where Ruby was now openly flirting with the man she had been talking to. Regina frowned and accidentally said out loud, "doesn't it bother you…?"

Rory followed Regina's eyes and just smiled before physically turning her in her stool to look at her again, "no. It doesn't bother me. We may all be shit here, but you my dear, are the shiniest piece of shit in the place and you're my shit. Therefore, I am the luckiest shit."

Regina had finished her drink at some point and Rory made her another, when she leaned in for a kiss after her first sip, Regina gave her a real kiss. "You are _the_ shit."

Rory laughed whole heartedly and they spent the rest of the night drinking, smoking and laughing. Regina kind of wanted to dance, but not with anyone but Rory, who was very busy helping the other barkeep. She saw Mr. Gold walk in at some point and set down at a booth with two other men. They were all fairly drunk already and he seemed to try catching up. He seemed to be always staring at the other bartender, Lacy.

Regina didn't know her from before the curse, but she seemed a bit too much to be a peasant. She vaguely recalled Rumplestiltskin having a serving girl in his castle, maybe she was her? He didn't know who he really was, but maybe subconsciously he remembered her?

Regina shrugged and let it all go. She wasn't here for curses or dark ones anymore. She was here to drink and laugh with Rory.

…

It had to be 2 am by the time Rory chased the last patrons out. Regina was quite intoxicated and Rory wasn't far behind. She wondered how the hell they would get home, but Rory suddenly had her by the hand, leading her up the stairs in the back. At the top, Rory fumbled with keys while Regina was trying to stay standing.

Eventually they fell thru a doorway and Regina vaguely recognized the place they were in. It was the apartment above the bar. It was sparsely furnished, but had a bed which looked fabulous to her. She groaned as she laid down heavily on it, eyes already shut.

Rory was giggling at her. She removed the drunk womans shoes and pantyhose along with her skirt blazer and blouse. Regina then took off her own bra, leaving Rory to stare at her with a tilted head and glazed eyes.

Regina pulled her down on top of her, drunk and needing the contact. She kissed her in a very unfriend like way. She vaguely heard Rory whisper "good night Regina" and then the world went black.

….

 **The song referenced is 'Devils's dance floor' by Flogging Molly. I don't own it.**


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Regina cracked her eyes open very slowly. Her head was beating to the tune of a thousand marching bands. She couldn't remember very much of last night. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the events that her liquor soaked mind had retained.

She remembered Rory helping her climb the stairs. She remembered falling into bed. She then remembered the other woman removing her clothing. She also recalled the very passionate kiss she gave oh so willingly. She sat up very slowly, carefully covering her bare chest with the sheet. She was thankful that the curtains in the tiny apartment were closed because the sun was her new mortal enemy.

She finally settled her eyes on the tattooed body wearing only an apron standing at the small, two burner stove. The smell of eggs and bacon making her stomach twist in the most unpleasant way. She opened her mouth to say something, but only a dry croak came out.

Rory glanced at her and quickly turned the heat off on the stove, moving the pans to the side counter, before gathering a glass of murky water and a couple pills from the other counter. She sat beside Regina with a smile and handed her the glass and the pills.

Eyeing the murky water distastefully, Regina sipped at it before deciding it was not dirty water, but some sort of flavored concoction. She took the offered pills and drank the glass. Her stomach settled almost immediately, the headache however was likely going to stick around for a bit. She smiled at Rory, "thank you."

Rory smiled back at her and moved some stray hair out of her face, "you're quite welcome. Now, chill for a few minutes, give the tonic time to work and then I will bring you breakfast."

Regina watched her move back to the kitchen area, working to finish the food. She finally licked her lips and decided to find out what had happened last night. She was incredibly nervous that they had had sex and she couldn't even remember it. "Uhm… last night, after we came to bed…?"

Rory grinned widely but didn't look at her, still fixing the food. "Oh, last night! You were a wild animal! I didn't know you had studied Kamasutra! My back may never be the same again. I'm really pleased we could both agree it was the best sex we've ever had!"

Reginas eyes were wide with shock and a fierce red over took her face, "Really?!"

Rory started laughing as she brought two plates over to set on the bed for them to eat, "no. You burped in my mouth and passed out."

Regina grimaced and slapped the womans arm but took her plate anyway. "That's not funny."

"I thought it was. Nevermind all that, you had a long work week, I could see the stress melt off you last night. I am perfectly happy to have made you relax enough to burp in my mouth."

Regina rolled her eyes and focused on the eggs which seemed to be the best tasting food she had ever eaten. "We are not mentioning that again. Not ever."

Rory laughed while shoveling her own food down. She still ate like a starving wolf, it seemed. "You never need to worry Regina, I don't know why you always ask me this on Saturday morning. I would never take advantage of you like that." She stood to take her plate to wash before Regina had finished half of hers. "You have been throwing yourself at me in a drunken daze for seven years, and not once have I accepted your rather forceful offers. Although I can admit to being rather intoxicated myself and the occasional strip tease you offer up cannot be unseen."

Regina stared at the woman. What the hell kind of relationship did they have?! It wasn't taking advantage if they usually slept with each other was it? "Why not?" She snapped her mouth shut with a click. This hangover was horrid, making her speak without thought.

Rory smiled at her in a way that could only be called loving, "because that's not what I am here for. I am here to love you and make you as happy as I can for the rest of my life. If you never want me in that manner, I will still stay beside you, always." Rory looked back to washing the dishes and shrugged, her smile becoming more devilish, "now, don't get me wrong, if you ever get naked and shove your tongue down my throat like that when you are sober I am going to rock your world up one side and down the other until you scream my name and the whole fucking town knows I'm banging the mayor like a screen door in a hurricane."

Regina dropped her fork on her plate and stared at her with wide eyes, "how long could you possibly wait? Kisses and cuddles can't be enough for you?"

Rory just shrugged, handing Regina a clean towel and nodding towards the bathroom, "I've waited my whole life for you, I can wait the rest of it."

Regina took the offered towel and made her way to the bathroom, sheet held tightly against herself. She thought hard in the small shower stall as she washed though. They weren't physical… Kisses and cuddles, but no sex? Even without every memory of this world she knew that wasn't normal. In the enchanted forest their relationship was extremely odd. She could remember literally pulling the woman on top of her and kissing her thoroughly, but Rory had not given in to it? The woman obviously wanted her, that crude description of what she wanted to do with her was more than enough evidence of such.

She felt more for the woman than she did before this conversation now. She could also remember having this similar talk with her many times before. Including the first time Regina had woken hung over naked in the womans bed. She had been mortified of her actions and even more embarrassed at what she assumed they had done. At the time, Rory was dating Ruby. It took the better part of an hour for Rory to convince her they did not in fact have sex.

Regina apologized adamantly to her then best friend Ruby for what had happened. Ruby had seemed incredibly irate that Rory had sent her to her own home instead of letting her stay as she usually did. Apparently, Rory decided to take Regina up to her apartment above the bar that at the time was owned by someone else. She insisted Regina shouldn't be left alone that night because of how drunk she was. Ruby had been hurt, rather badly, that Rory had decided to take care of Regina instead of her.

Regina smiled as she switched off the shower. The curse had created a past rather similar to the real one, just moving things around to fit into this world. Rory had always protected Regina first. She felt a small, very small, pang of guilt at the way Ruby must have felt all these years. But then she recalled the woman consistently abandoning them and brushed the guilt off.

She dressed in a casual, but nice, pant suit that was hung on the back of the door. Apparently this had been planned rather well since her clothes were here. She brushed her hair the best she could and walked back into the main apartment. Rory was laying on the bed, wearing sweat pants and a ratty t-shirt, watching t.v.. Regina sighed and laid beside her, resting her head on the womans arm for a pillow. They laid like that for a while before Rory stretched and switched the t.v. off.

"Alright, my little hot mess, you ready?"

Regina glared at her for a moment before answering, "ready for what?"

Rory scoffed and bounced out of the bed, "you can't still be hungover. Ready for what? For the second round. Saturday night is still karaoke night and that means preparations must be made."

Regina frowned but shrugged and stood, "remind me when it starts?"

Laughing while tying her shoes on, Rory seemed to be amused at Regina's lack of memory, "wow… ok. It starts at six so everyone can sing badly for a couple hours before we stop it and actually have a good night." She looked at her wall clock before handing Regina her shoes, "that means we have two hours to get it set up and ready."

"It's already 4?!" Regina put her shoes on hurriedly.

"Well yes, that'll happen when you sleep until one in the afternoon, mayor lazypants."

Scowling at the woman, she followed her out the door and down the steps. Sleeping until one?! She was going to be much more careful with Rory's drinks from now on. Ridiculous. Irresponsible and child like behavior at it's worst.

…..

Despite her internal thoughts, Regina had finished two drinks already and it was only 7 pm. In her defense, the karaoke was nearly intolerable when totally sober. Some people seemed alright, but others were just there for everyone elses entertainment. The bar was packed again, it seemed nearly all of Storybrooke wanted in tonight. Mary Margaret was actually well received with her rendition of Britney Spears 'Gimme more'. Regina was giggling at the woman singing in a whiny voice and asking for more.

Rory bumped her elbow and asked when she was going to sing for them. Regina shook her head furiously, no chance. "Absolutely not. Not in a million years, it isn't going to happen."

Rory pouted at her with big sad eyes, "please? I love hearing you sing."

Regina then remembered Rory catching her singing in the shower several times thru the years. "Shower singing doesn't count. I am not doing karaoke."

Rory tossed a bar towel at her playfully, "fine. Party pooper. I will sing then."

Before Regina could throw the towel back, Rory was over the counter and headed for the small stage being vacated by Leroy who had just finished 'Mr. Boombastic' by Shaggy.

As the music started, Regina was hit by a thousand memories of Rory singing anywhere and everywhere she damn well pleased. She had a wonderful voice and could sing every range it seemed. She could hit the highest notes and the deep bass too. Everyone cheered loudly when she took the microphone up and the music started.

I lost my baby to a foreign war

She was cut down in the gunfire of the western world

She was livin in sin I was livin in a lie

She was caught up in the glimmer of a rich mans eye

I couldn't see her from the other side

They said son there's no glory in your pride

Regina cheered with everyone else as Rory tore thru the punk song like she owned it.

I will wait at the Brandenburg gate

At the Brandenburg gate, I'll wait

I will wait at the Brandenburg gate

At the Brandenburg gate, I'll wait

When the song ended, many people clapped and cheered and it marked the end of the karaoke because no one wanted to go after Rory's performance. The stage was quickly cleared out by Rory and Lacy and the auto play list was started. It kicked off with some fast paced punk rock that everyone started singing along to.

Regina pulled on Rory's hand when she got close and kissed her, a reward for a song well done. The woman then bounced over the bar again and her and Lacy started catching up on drinks. Regina just sat and sipped her own drink, remembering to slow down on this one. She got busy watching the people dancing and didn't notice someone sitting on the stool next to her. When she did turn around, she inhaled sharply and leaned away from Ruby.

Ruby was in pretty deep, already on her sixth round of the night. She glanced at Regina sideways and rolled her eyes, "I don't bite Regina." She giggled into her glass and added, "not in public anyway. But you probably know all about what I do in private. I'm sure you've been measured against me plenty of times."

Regina felt herself grow irrationally angry. The woman was obviously drunk and couldn't control herself. But the audacity of her to taunt Regina like that was uncalled for at best. "I think maybe you should sit elsewhere, Miss Lucas."

Laughing loudly and clinking her glass on the bar, Ruby leaned in close to Regina's face, "where would you like me to sit, Regina?! You already stole my favorite spot…" She then stared down the bar at Rory who was bent at the waist retrieving a case of liquor from under the bar.

Regina wasn't quite sure what happened. Once minute she was staring daggers at Ruby who was leering at Rory, the next thing she knew, Ruby was flat on her back on the floor. Regina stared down at her until Ruby started getting up and threw a fist towards her face. Before impact though, a body tackled into Ruby and after a bit of a wrestling match, Rory came out on top and roughly escorted Ruby out the back door of the bar.

Regina stared after them, the crowd quickly went back to their own business as the door slammed behind Rory and Ruby. Regina was stunned at herself for reacting so violently, and her hand hurt like hell. She had actually punched Ruby. If the woman ever got her enchanted forest memories back, Regina was likely going to be puppy chow.

Regina steadied herself and went to check on them. She opened the door just slightly and peeked out. Rory was holding Ruby's wrists and using it as leverage to keep Ruby off herself. Ruby however was fighting her the best she could in her drunken mess.

"God damn it Rory! What could you possibly see in that frigid bitch?!"

Rory pushed her backwards but held onto her wrist so she wouldn't fall to the ground. "Well for one, she isn't currently screaming and fighting like a lunatic in the alleyway."

Ruby jerked her wrists out of Rory's grip and went about drunkenly fixing her hair. "Of course she isn't, the stick up her ass wouldn't allow such a human reaction would it?"

Regina mentally scoffed at that comment. A werewolf saying she wasn't human. Fantastic.

"Ruby, you're drunk, like stupid drunk. You need to go home and sleep it off. Tomorrow we can all pretend this didn't happen okay?" Rory looked concerned.

Ruby seemed to collect herself a bit and slowly put her arms around the other womans neck, getting close to her face, Rory just stood stock still, watching her. "Can I at least have a kiss goodnight?"

Rory made to pull away but Ruby was surprisingly quick and forced her mouth onto hers. Regina had enough. Another burst of jealous rage filled her from head to toe and she shot out of the doorway towards them with a growl in her throat.

Rory pulled out of the embrace violently just before Regina reached them. She shoved Ruby aside and grabbed Regina's arm to pull her back from following after the stumbling woman. Regina was shaking with anger as they waited for Ruby to clear the alleyway, laughing to herself, before looking at each other.

"You should have let me hit her again." She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Rory.

Holding her hands up in surrender, Rory shook her head, "I'm pretty sure you did a good enough job the first time sweetheart."

Regina finally relaxed and held her right hand gently, "it seriously is broken in a million pieces."

Rory laughed and took her hand in her own, very slowly and gently examining it and bending Regina's fingers carefully. Regina winced, but it wasn't too bad. "I don't think it's broken. But, we should definitely get you some ice for it before it swells up too much. You're lucky she was wasted. I barely got there before she got a return shot. She hits like a fucking freight train. You'd be in bad shape if she had made it."

Regina sighed and closed her eyes, "I can't believe this. I shouldn't be reacting like that. I'm sorry."

Rory wrapped her arms around her and hugged her tightly, "she told me what she said to you. You were defending my honor! My little lady hero, so valiant. Suicidal, but valiant."

Regina laughed against her and pulled away to head back inside. "Yes, I'm your knight in shining Prada."

They laughed and decided to forget it all. Regina sat at the bar and let Rory put an ice pack on her hand. They just enjoyed each other for the rest of the night, Rory never straying too far from her. Regina couldn't help mulling over what had happened though. She had felt so much rage and jealousy, it was ridiculous. She never felt that much when Lorelei and Red were together. Maybe a little jealous… no. Ridiculous.

They decided they were sober enough to go to their proper home and were curled up together by 3 am.

….

 **The song referenced here was 'Brandenburg Gate' by Anti-Flag. I don't own it.**


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Sunday morning, Regina woke up alone. She started to get out of bed to see where Rory had gone off to. Before she made it to the closet, she heard the shower start up. She nodded to herself and got ready for a casual Sunday. Rory emerged from the shower, throwing her towel in the hamper as she brushed past Regina to get in the closet. Regina sat quickly at her vanity and began doing her makeup and hair. She noticed the vivid blush she wore and pointedly ignored the naked woman who had casually walked past her. Apparently, the dislike of clothing was something else Lorelei and Rory shared. Rory emerged clothed in the same jeans and t-shirt she had worn last Sunday.

"Don't you own enough clothing to not wear the same thing every week?" Regina asked as she finished up at the vanity.

"Considering I haven't worn this shirt in like months, yeah I think so." Rory laughed as Regina followed her out the bedroom door, headed for the garage.

Regina shrugged, if she wanted to wear the same thing repeatedly, more power to her. Regina was just happy she was dressed. Not that a naked siren affected her, it just wasn't proper. Obviously.

They got in the mercedes and drove to the diner. They sat in the back booth as everyone put their heads down and ignored them. Leroy seemed to be nursing a hangover. Ruby was at the table once they got settled and Regina bristled slightly, not knowing how the woman would act after the events of the night before.

"Good morning madam Mayor, Rory. You want the usual?" She asked without taking her eyes off her notepad.

Regina frowned at her, either she was very good with makeup, or Ruby didn't have a mark from the hit last night. Rory answered yes to Ruby and Ruby swore slightly, apologizing for forgetting the pot of coffee and raced off to get it. Regina frowned at the sense of déjà vu and then examined her right hand. She hadn't thought of it today. When she fell asleep, it had been throbbing incessantly. Now, it didn't hurt at all. She flexed her fingers as Ruby poured her coffee and rushed back to the kitchen.

Rory reached over and stole a sip of her coffee, watching her, "is something wrong with your hand?"

Regina looked up at her, "I had thought it would be sore today."

Frowning and setting Regina's coffee back down, Rory took her hand and looked at it, "why would it be sore? It seems fine. Did you do something to it yesterday?"

Regina shook her head, feeling out of sorts. "No, must have been a dream…"

They sat mostly quietly while waiting for their food. Finally it arrived at Rory started shoveling it in. Regina ate slower and by the time she finished hers, Rory was impatient at best. "You take forever to eat."

Regina arched a brow at her, "well, I like to taste my food, thank you."

Rory smiled at her and pushed her paper towards her, "okay. Well take that with you, I want to watch the ships in the harbor for a bit before I have to go order the liquor for the month."

Regina gathered her things and followed Rory out the diner. She glanced at Mary Margaret who had sat quickly at the first empty stool when she had entered the diner. Something was wrong here. Rory ordered the monthly liquor last Sunday.

They sat and watched the ships, just relaxing on the bench and chatting idly about nothing important. Finally, noon came and Rory gave her a quick kiss before heading for the bar. Regina drove herself to Mr. Gold's shop. If anyone knew what was happening here, he would. It was his curse after all.

The bells announced her entry and Mr. Gold smiled at her politely, "madam mayor, what a pleasant surprise. To what do I owe the honor?"

Regina eyed him but couldn't quite tell if he was aware of his true identity or not. He shouldn't be, but this was the dark one after all. "I'm feeling oddly off balance today, Mr. Gold. It's almost as if the week is repeating itself."

Frowning in confusion he answered slowly, "I'm no doctor, perhaps you should talk to Dr. Whale? Or, maybe Archie?"

Regina rolled her eyes, "I'm not ill, thank you. I just thought perhaps you would have an idea of how to deal with déjà vu?"

Mr. Gold huffed a laugh and leaned heavily on his cane, "I'm sorry, but I can't help with that. I deal in property and trinkets, not superstition and imaginations."

Regina sighed and decided he had no idea what she was talking about and said her good byes before heading to her mansion. She watched the clock as she waited for Rory to come home. If it was the same as before, the woman would arrive at exactly the same time. Last week she had been panic stricken at her new found relationship and had stared at the clock nervously.

On the exact same stroke of the clock, Rory walked thru the door, smiling at her happily before kissing her quickly and heading in to prepare dinner. She made the same noodley nonsense as last week. They chatted until nearly ten before Rory cracked a yawn and suggested bed. This time, she didn't make excuses not to join her. She was aware of the relationship status now. They crawled in bed and Rory fell asleep quickly, curled up against her back.

…

The paperwork was the same paperwork she had already seen and processed. Rory brought the same food at the same time for lunch everyday. Friday came and her secretary told her Rory was too busy at the bar to come walk her over. She entered the bar to the same song playing. Rory tossed the same man off the same stool. She made her the same drink. She made the same remark about making the drink better after Regina gave her a distracted kiss.

She did not, however drink as much as last time. They closed up the bar and Regina climbed the stairs on her own. They laid down to sleep. They woke up earlier, but that just turned to watching t.v. longer. Karaoke night. Mary Margaret wasn't bad. Rory took to the stage and as the music started, Regina whipped her head around to stare and nearly dumped her drink too.

What's your plan for tomorrow

Are you a leader or will you follow

Are you a fighter or will you cower

It's our time to take back the power

Regina cheered with the crowd and downed her drink happily. Finally! Something was different! She was ecstatic. She listened enthusiastically to the song as she cheered her on with everyone else.

Whatcha gonna do

When they show up in black suits

On the street in army boots

And they're there to silence you

Whatcha gonna say

When they strip your rights away

And the taxman makes you pay

For every bead of sweat you bled today

When the song was done, Rory and Lacy quickly removed the equipment and stage just like before, but Regina was still beaming when Rory swaggered over to her and she kissed her much more thoroughly than last week.

Pulling back to grin at her, Rory winked down at her, "my goodness, I must have done a very good job that time! I know you haven't drank enough to kiss me like that for no reason."

She bounced over the bar and helped Lacy catch up on the drink orders. Regina was relieved and happy and relaxing thru another drink when she watched Ruby stumble to the seat next to her. The woman was drunk, just like last time. She eyed Regina who was glaring at her. "Chill out 'Gina. I don't bite." She giggled into her glass and started to say what was likely the same nonsense as last week, but Regina wasn't game for that repetition.

"Miss Lucas you are drunk and I very much suggest you shut your mouth before I shut it for you."

Ruby turned to face her and stared her right in the eye, "just because you're fucking the baddest bitch in town, doesn't make you a bad bitch. You're just a stuck up whore who stole my girlfriend…"

Again, Regina had no idea what came over her but she saw red and again, Ruby was on her back on the floor. She knew she was going to swing at her, and she hoped Rory would be there to stop it. As the fist came at her, Rory slammed into her side and wrestled her to the ground and then up and out the back door.

Regina was still furious. She marched out the back door after finished her drink and the same conversation was happening. This time though, when Ruby put her arms around Rory's neck, her jealousy anticipated the forced kiss and she managed to shove Ruby away before it connected.

Rory held her back as Ruby stumbled away and out of the alley, still laughing. "Hey, what has gotten into you tonight? Feeling a tad scrappy are we?" Rory smiled at her as she examined her right hand that was throbbing like hell… again.

"She deserved it." Regina mumbled as she winced thru the pain.

Rory kissed her knuckles and gently pulled her into a sweet embrace. "She told me what she said, I agree with you, Scrappy."

Regina chuckled and put a hand on the back of Rory's head, pulling her into a well deserved kiss. There was no resistance from the siren, only a low moan. Regina smiled against the other womans lips. "I'll always defend your honor."

Rory pulled Reginas hips tighter against her and put both hands flat on her lower back, holding her close. "Does fighting make you act like this? Because I can find a few other people for you to hit if that's the case." She grinned before kissing Regina deeply again.

The realization of what she was doing, and who with, made her pull back and clear her throat before gesturing to the door, "we should get back in there, you have a bar to run after all."

Rory made a noise that could only be called a whimper before finally shrugging and following Regina back inside. They spent the rest of the night sipping drinks and flirting at each other. Flirting was fine, Regina told herself. Kissing madly in the alleyway, probably not so much. But, so long as it didn't happen again, it was probably fine. She was just playing into what the curse had set up. Obviously.

…..

Week after week, the timeline replayed itself. Regina could change things, and people would change to her efforts. But no matter what, things still progressed in a very familiar way. The only thing that seemed to change on it's own was Rory. She would strike up new conversations, or sneak attack kisses and hugs at different times.

It wasn't too bad. The only real problem was Saturday night. Every Saturday night, Ruby said or did something that cause Regina to punch her right in the mouth. Every… single… time. She had tried avoiding it, but it never failed to occur. The worst was when she had decided to skip the bar entirely on Saturday night. She told Rory she had a head ache and was going home to bed instead. Rory had immediately decided to come home with her, but Regina couldn't let that happen.

"But I should stay with you, to make sure you're ok." Rory whined at her again.

Regina shook her head and sighed, "what if I go to your apartment? Then you could come check on me, very occasionally."

Rory finally conceded and Regina went to lay on the small bed upstairs. She had fallen asleep somewhere around ten. When the door was thrown open and Lacy shouted at her to come quick. Regina bolted down the stairs in time to watch the paramedics carting Rory out the door. Sheriff Graham was cuffing Ruby. She asked Lacy what had happened.

"Ruby was coming on really strong to Rory, probably since you weren't around, she was really drunk. Rory kept shutting her down and then finally decided to put her out of the bar. She got close and Ruby just went crazy when she realized Rory was kicking her out. She got her hand on a bottle and hit her in the back of the head. God, there's blood everywhere!"

Regina rushed to get out the door to get in the ambulance. She was waiting for them to load the woman in when Ruby got away from Graham and rushed at her, Regina didn't hesitate to punch her right in the mouth, sending her to the ground, still cuffed and now with a broken nose.

She sat at the hospital and waited for Dr. Whale to finish his stitches. Then she held Rory's hand until she fell asleep around 3 am, leaning on the hospital bed and swearing to never avoid it again.

….

She woke with a start the new Sunday. She waited, holding her breath, until she heard the shower start up. She sighed heavily and made her way to the bathroom door. She watched the blurry form of Rory washing in the shower. She was so relieved for the time loop. She would never miss a Saturday again though. She'd rather put herself thru the ringer then let Rory get hurt for a second. What if it had been worse? What if she had died? Would she be alive again Sunday? Regina wasn't taking that chance.

She stood and thought and spaced out so long, the shower shut off with her still standing there. Rory opened the door and looked entirely shocked at her presence in the bathroom. Regina smiled at her sweetly and looked her up and down once before speaking, "just enjoying the view on a Sunday."

Rory stood, stunned and blushing a little until she heard Regina open the closet door. Only then did she make her way to the closet also. She reached past Regina and grabbed her clothes, never breaking eye contact with her. "Pardon me…"

Regina just waited with a rapid heart until Rory took her clothes and left the closet. Her temperature was running as high as her heart rate and it took a moment of thought before she remembered to dress herself. She preferred to shower at night, but Rory showered every morning. It was becoming rather stressful seeing the woman naked every morning.

The rest of the morning, they chatted and Regina couldn't help but think of the morning incident. How brazen she had been. Staring at Rory and then making that comment. When Rory went to make the liquor order, Regina wandered home and just let herself think of her siren.

….

Six months. Six months of the same week repeating itself. It was driving her half mad. If Rory was as consistent as everyone else, Regina would have completely lost her mind already. It was also interesting to Regina how their relationship was shifting with time. When Sunday morning came, Regina sometimes waited in the bathroom until Rory came out, but the woman didn't looked shocked again. She seemed to anticipate it. She didn't seem to remember Regina doing this 'last' Sunday, but she seemed to know it happened sometimes. She couldn't remember the Ruby incident the night before, that never happened. Regina couldn't figure out the rhythm Rory was in. It wasn't like hers, she remembered everything. It wasn't like everyone else though either. It was, different.

Regina was also getting more amorous with the woman. The thought that Rory only wanted her because of the curse always stopped her just short of actually going all the way with it though. She was so worried that Lorelei wouldn't really want her like that, she refused to take advantage of Rory. She did, however, give in a bit to self indulgence. It would seem, when she was drunk enough, her inhibitions flew right out the damn window. So, she decided on Friday nights, she would happily have a few too many drinks.

Rory always took care of her and always respected her. Regina would throw herself at the woman as soon as they hit the apartment, but no matter what her liquefied brain did, Rory was simply put her to bed and hold her. Every Saturday morning she would awaken around 1 and have breakfast and a shower.

But, it seemed the bolder she got, the more she fell for Rory. They talked constantly about everything imaginable. Rarely a conversation between them was repeated. Regina learned everything about the woman. She learned their past thru bits and pieces too. They had grown together when Cora had found the baby Rory on her doorstep. She had decided to keep her because it would look fantastic to her peers. The sweet widowed woman who took in an abandoned child.

She raised them together and it resembled the enchanted forest version of events nicely. Ruby had grown up next door and her granny would babysit often for Cora. The three of them grew together and until Ruby had decided to go see the world, they were inseparable. Of course, being cursed and all, Ruby came back shortly after leaving and failing in the outside world. She returned to waitressing and by then, Regina had Rory.

It was all very unusual, but the curse had cleaned it all up nicely. Except the more she learned, the more she felt for Rory. Once the past was intact, in combination with the enchanted forest past, Regina was positively in love with her. She also remembered she had never told Rory she loved her. The other woman said it daily, multiple times a day, but never seemed to expect it back from her.

It was Friday when Regina decided she couldn't hold back as much. She needed Rory to know she loved her. She left the office early, Rory hadn't sent her message yet. She made sure to tell her secretary she was expecting the message and to tell Rory she would be there at the expected time. The secretary looked puzzled, but she agreed to do so.

She made her way to the flower shop. She was hit with memories as she stepped inside for the first time that she knew of. She had been here many times before, apparently. She remembered buying long stem white roses. She smiled because she couldn't see who she gave them to, that meant she gave them to Rory. She was even more excited now, because when she gave them to her, she would fill in more gaps in their past. These ones would be of Regina giving her flowers.

She told the grouchy old man what she wanted and he went about gathering them for her. Once paid for, Regina proudly cradled the bouquet as she headed for the bar. She entered and a different song was playing than usual, she must be earlier than usual. She looked around, not as many patrons were around. Glancing at her watch, she was about an hour sooner than usual. Rory wasn't to be seen, probably in the back room then.

She sat at her preferred stool and Lacy spotted her, smiling genuinely. She had decided a while ago she liked this woman. She was flirty and a bit trashy, but well mannered and sincere. If she didn't like someone she told them so. She liked Regina and adored Rory.

"Well, good evening, madam Mayor. You're early tonight!". Lacy got a glass of ice water for her to drink. Lacy couldn't make the crazy mix Rory did for her, so she didn't bother trying.

Regina nodded and bit her lip, glancing at the back room, "is Rory busy?"

"She'll be out in a minute, it's nearly five and people start pouring in then. She's just checking the kegs." Lacy glanced at the flowers Regina had in her lap. "Those are her favorite, she is gonna love them! You two are so sweet together."

Regina smiled at her and waited for Rory. It was five when the woman finally appeared. She started when she saw Regina sitting there already, "well hello there! I just called to tell your secretary I couldn't come by. I see a mass headed this way and I shouldn't leave Lacy alone with it. She said you'd be here, I guess she was right." Rory laughed as the door opened and people poured inside.

Regina gestured for Rory to come around the counter and when she did she gave her the bouquet and as Rory gushed about how beautiful they were and how much she loved them, Regina waited. When the woman set them on the bar to put her arms around Regina, she pulled her close and whispered in her ear, "I love you, Rory."

The sirens eyes went wide and she smiled as tears came to her eyes, she quickly kissed Regina soundly and when she pulled back she whispered back to her, "I love you, Regina."

They stayed like that several minutes until Lacy cleared her throat loudly, "hey, ms. bar owner! Maybe quit making out with your woman and run this shit?"

Both women were laughing but with one final kiss, Rory bounced over the counter. She started Reginas drink and Regina shouted over the music, "I'll have that one, but just water after it."

Rory looked confused but shrugged anyway, "whatever you say lady."

Regina laughed and enjoyed her drink while watching Rory work. She was so good with people, everyone liked her. Regina admired the way she could make people laugh. The night went pretty smoothly, as usual. Rory didn't drink much that night either, she hated drinking more than Regina did. A few shots of bourbon and she switched to water too.

By closing time, they both were sober as they headed up to the apartment. It was just where they were on Friday night, sober or not. They decided to relax a bit since it was a beautiful night, not too chilly. They sat out on the tiny balcony that overlooked the harbor and sipped some hot tea Rory mysteriously had in the place. They didn't say much as they sat cuddled up together on the tiny pop up love seat there.

Finally, Regina made the decision for bed. They stood next to the bed and undressed to their underwear, crawling in next to each other. Regina laid her head on Rorys arm and whispered, "I love you, good night."

Rory smiled widely and whispered back to her, "I love you too, good night."

….

An entire year had passed. Regina had taken to learning new languages and studying things the curse didn't give her. She needed distractions from the mundane, repeating world around her. She also needed a distraction from Rory. From her laugh, her smile, her hands, her mouth. The woman was driving her crazy by just being supportive and flirty. She had nearly given in to her a few times lately. She couldn't do that to her, it wasn't right.

…

Two years had passed. Regina was barely aware of the days, it had all become so very redundant. She filed her paperwork without reading it, she knew the order and where to sign. She deftly avoided Mary Margaret in the street during weekdays as it was irritating to run into her perpetually. She had schemed how to get thru the fight on Saturday easily.

She simply stood by the door at seven minutes past five and waited for the door to swing open, then she blindly punched towards Ruby as she entered. The woman left with a bleeding nose and didn't return. After she hit her, Regina could enjoy her Saturday night with Rory, uninterrupted.

The siren still surprised her though. Always something different going on there. She sometimes showed up with flowers, or she would kiss Regina so very well that the woman was left breathless for hours after the fact. She sang a new song every Saturday night too. One Saturday morning, Regina woke up to the woman playing an old keyboard and promptly went and ordered a piano to be made for her.

The piano was now in the mansion and Rory played the most beautiful music Regina had ever heard. Regina's entire being wanted the damn woman. She couldn't think of anything but her. Which is how, on the two year mark, Regina finally lost her internal battle.

It was Sunday morning. Regina woke up and waited to hear the shower start. She then stripped off her pajamas and made her way into the bathroom. She waited until she could see Rory was ready to shut off the water before she opened the doors. Rory looked shocked, but her eyes immediately looked down to Regina's nude body and stared silently, mouth hanging open a bit.

Regina smirked and put a hand on the womans chest to gently move her back towards the wall of the spacious shower. Once Rory hit the cool tiles, her eyes snapped back up to meet Regina's. Her pupils were wide with a haze of lust. "Regina…?"

Licking her lips, Regina pressed their bodies together, the warm water hitting between them both, "I want you."

Rory did not need a second invitation. She grabbed her hips and pulled her impossibly closer, kissing her with years of pent up need. Regina was left dizzy with her own lust by the time Rory switched them around so her back was against the tiles. Somehow she remained standing, held up in part by Rorys hand that was causing no small amount of moans and swearing to spill from her mouth. She had a firm grip of Rorys hair in one hand and the other she used to feel the womans bicep flexing and straining to push Regina over the edge of sanity.

As soon as Regina came down from her high that Rory had pushed her to embarrassingly fast, the siren picked her up by wrapping her arms under her thighs and Regina wrapped her legs around her waist. She was set down gently on their bed, shower still running in the back ground but no one cared. They hadn't dried off, and the fine sheets were getting soaked, but neither cared about that either.

They explored each other to the fullest extent for hours until the clock in the hall announced it was noon. They were both breathing heavily as they were tangled up in each other and the damp sheets. Rory kissed her again as she caught her breath. She whispered, "I love you" and smiled her biggest smile when Regina responded with her own "I love you".

Regina smiled at her and blushed, burying her face in the woman's neck. She asked quietly, "when did you shut off the shower?"

Rory giggled and tickled her sides a little before answering, "the second time you needed a little rest."

Regina giggled again and held her closer. "Well, you're very exhausting."

In unison, their stomachs growled loudly. They both looked down and Rory said, "oh… we skipped breakfast."

Regina nodded and lightly slapped the other woman's bottom, "hop up, chef. I will fix this mess of a bedroom while you get us some food together."

Another kiss and they went their separate ways. Regina grimaced as she pulled the sheets and comforter off the bed. After slipping on a robe, she stopped in the bathroom to soak up the water on the floor from the open shower door and headed down to put it all in the washer. Rory was dancing in just an apron while she made pancakes. She had switched on the stereo and there was some instrumental song rolling thru the house.

When Regina finished starting the laundry, she went to sit and eat, but Rory grabbed her hand and pulled her in close to dance to the last minute of the song playing. Laughing and smiling, they kissed as it ended and proceeded to destroy every pancake that had been made.

Regina remembered the pattern of events and reminded Rory she needed to order the liquor for the month. The womans mouth fell open and she tore off the apron, racing up the stairs two at a time to get dressed in record time before kissing her very quickly once more and then dashing out the door.

Regina didn't stop smiling the entire week. Every day was full of love and peace and she was finally happy.

….


	19. Chapter 19

**Not much can be done with a cursed town. So, let's jump a bit!**

Chapter 19

Although the repetition was grating on her nerves still, Regina found plenty off happiness in her town. After ten years, she even managed to let go of her old hatred and anger. She found ways to make the townsfolk happier alongside her. She couldn't seem to prevent the Saturday fist fight with Ruby, but she had been treating other people nicer and rearranging peoples lives subtly, little bits at a time that would stick. If she tried to change too much at a time, it simply reverted back to regular on Sunday morning.

She picked thru the town, working diligently to right the wrongs her curse had created. She found a set of children who were homeless and located their father. That took several tries and many weeks to do just right to make it stick. The changes would slide in to place and then find a repeating pattern to fall in to.

No one was aging and no one remembered the previous weeks, but she could make the one week better thru it's redundancy. Mary Margaret had even stopped cowering every time she saw Regina since she had been awarder the mayors new medal for outstanding teacher.

It was all falling in to place nicely and Regina was feeling better about herself as time drug on.

By the fifteenth year, she had most everyone living peaceful, contented lives. She had fixed everything she found wrong. Her and Rory were completely in love and very happy together. There was nothing left to fix, nothing left to learn, and nothing left to do.

….

On her secret yearly holiday of the curse date, Regina realized 18 years had passed. She had nothing left to do but ride this endless loop of nothing ever changing. She felt herself shutting down internally. She wasn't going to last like this forever. Rory noticed her depression and was herself shutting down in response to not being able to help Regina. She had tried flowers, music, learning to cook fantastic meals. Nothing seemed to help. Regina would sit at home for the week and do nothing but stare at the t.v…. Rory right beside her.

…

Mr. Gold was sweeping his shop floor. Nothing unusual, just going about his everyday routine. It was Monday morning and he felt normal. The clock on the shelf struck noon on this unknown holiday, and he stared at it. Something was tugging at him to open the clock door. He had never done that before, why would he? The clock worked fine, no reason to open it.

But he felt compelled to open it now. When he did, he found a letter, seemingly written in his own hand. He inhaled sharply and grabbed his hat and coat and limped out to his car before firing it up and speeding out of town.

…..

It was Tuesday morning and Regina took her seat on the couch. Rory sat next to her, looking concerned. "Regina… are you still not feeling well? You've sat here since Sunday morning."

Regina sighed, she had been sitting here every day for nearly 2 months, not just since Sunday. "I'm just a bit out of it this week I think. Maybe the flu?"

Rory nodded and cuddled up next to her and they prepared to spend the day sitting and doing nothing at all. Because for Regina, there was no point in doing anything at all.

Regina jumped nearly out of her skin when the door bell rang. The door bell didn't ring on a Tuesday at five p.m.. It didn't happen. It wasn't the flow of this life. She grabbed Rory, who had stood to answer the door and pulled her back down. "Don't answer that!"

Rory looked at her like she was insane, "why not?!"

Regina stared towards the front door with wide eyes, "it's wrong."

Frowning at her, Rory pulled herself free of Regina's grip and headed for the door anyway while Regina protested from the couch she was now hiding behind. "Do not open that door!"

Rory gave her one more worried look before opening the door anyway. She looked around, confused, because no one was there. She was about to shrug it off and close it when she heard a tiny sneeze by her feet. She looked down and jumped back with a yell, slamming the door fiercely as she fell to the foyer floor.

Regina bolted to her and helped her up, "what the hell was it?!"

Rory shook her head, wide eyed and pale, "no idea! Something is out there, on the door mat."

Regina took a deep breath and very slowly opened the door to peek out and down. There on the mat was a heavy basket. In the basket, was a baby. She stared at it a good minute before opening the door fully. She looked around, searching for something, someone, but there was just the empty street.

She bent down and moved the blankets so she could see the childs face better, "Oh my god don't touch it!" Rory tried to pull her back but Regina shrugged her off, picking the baby up to hold in her arms.

"Rory, stop. It's a baby." Regina motioned for the other woman to get the basket and they made their way to the couch, Regina holding the baby carefully while Rory watched it sideways. Regina held the child and cooed at him and it smiled back at her. She was absolutely in love already.

….

Mr. Gold was the only person in town aside from herself that had any legal knowledge, and he could produce documents that seemed very legal when the need arose. Regina met with him and he was all too happy to hand her everything she needed to sign and fill out. She looked at him skeptically, because he had seemed ridiculously prepared for this.

"How is it you have all the documents I need to claim and adopt a child I found on my doorstep?" She asked as she filled out another form.

He shrugged and pointed to the next line to be signed, "I am always prepared, madam Mayor."

She decided to drop it, but she knew he had a hand in this, somehow. Instead she waited patiently until she had the new birth certificate in her hands.

"Henry Daniel Mills", she said it out loud with a smiled on her face.

Cocking a brow, Rory read it herself before asking, "why did you pick those names?"

"My fathers name was Henry, I never really got to know him, so I thought it would be nice to remember him thru my son. Daniel was a good man, and he deserves a memory too."

Rory shrugged and rolled her eyes, of course, in this curse world, Daniel had run off because of impending accusations, but that wasn't the Daniel Regina remembered. "Whatever you say."

Regina kissed her and they went to the diner for lunch. Everyone was in love with Henry the moment they saw him, of course. Even Ruby had to tell Regina how beautiful he was. They decided to tell people they legitimately adopted him instead of finding him, it was just easier that way.

Rory did not like holding him, or feeding him, and refused to touch a dirty diaper. Regina had to accept it, she remembered how bad Lorelei was with babies. She assumed it was heavily built into her DNA.

…..

Regina had been worried the child wouldn't grow and would remain a fussy 2 am crying mess forever. But, as he grew and learned, her fears faded. She took him to work with her and felt like her life was finally perfect. Rory was a bit of a juggle at first. If she didn't go with her on Saturday, Ruby tried to kill her. It couldn't be avoided. So, on Saturday, she would have one of the very few people Regina trusted watch her son. The first time was only days after she got him, and it was a little rough on her.

Regina was wringing her hands in a nervous mess, "you remember how to mix the formula?" The woman nodded. "You have my cell number?" The woman nodded. "You have Rorys cell number?" The woman nodded.

"Yes, I have the bar number too. Yes I have Lacy's number too. Yes I know how to get to the hospital quickly in case the ambulances are busy. Yes I know not to take my eyes off him for a single second. I know everything Regina, you've told me 17 times already and you've written everything down and made four copies so one is in the living room, dining room, kitchen and bathroom. I swear to you, he will be perfectly fine for a few hours in my care."

Regina sighed heavily and nodded again, it was already four thirty. If she didn't leave very soon, she would miss her door punch window and have to wait for Ruby to act up. "Okay." She kissed his little head again and started out the door. She made a solemn vow though that if Mary Margaret let a single hair on his head get bent out of place, she would find out if the dead came back on Sunday mornings.

…

By the time Henry was 3, Regina could spend most of her Saturday night with Rory at the bar. She didn't drink much, just one when she got there. But she really enjoyed hearing Rory sing and loved spending the time with her.

Rory was getting better with him as he got older. She was happier than anyone else on the earth when he was potty trained. He would do the pee pee dance and she would pick him up and sprint to the potty with him. Regina would always listen and laugh with them when she heard Rory cheering him on.

The town that stayed the same around him flowed with his aging in the odd way it did. Much like the happy changes she made, as long as it was gradual, the looped weeks evolved with him. Regina was constantly engaged with his growing mind and body. She wasn't bored anymore.

….

School was very stressful for Regina. Henry was thrilled, as was Rory. Regina's biggest concern was whether or not he would be learning his shapes and colors until he was 30 as the weeks looped. Her fears were proven wrong when the second week came and they were learning numbers, and then letters. The years passed and somehow, even though Henry was the only child growing and aging, the loop changed for him. He could remember the day before Sunday also.

Since it had been like this since he was born, he seemed to find it normal. He left his friends in 1st grade, and got a new class in 2nd. He always missed his friends that didn't age with him, but he couldn't realize it was very strange.

It wasn't a problem until he hit about ten. For Regina it was getting closer to the 28th secret holiday of her curse, and for Henry it was the day his favorite and only babysitter, became his teacher. She thought he needed to use his imagination more since he wasn't connecting with the other children too well. Of course, Henry had stopped connecting with kids because he knew when he went to the next grade, they wouldn't. But she couldn't understand that, so she found a massive book of fairy tales to give him called Once Upon A Time.

….


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Rory flinched as she came in the front door. She heard Henry yelling from the driveway. She waited to come in until his bedroom door slammed shut. Unfortunately, she didn't wait for Regina's study door to also slam. This meant that when she crept in the door, Regina was staring at her with arms crossed looking like a demon at her.

"Hey babe…" she smiled brightly, hoping to ease the woman down a bit from her fight with the boy.

"Do not hey babe me. I know you have been standing out there waiting for him to finish screaming at me before you came in." Regina stood staring at her like she had been the one who started the damn fight. "It would have been really great if you could have come in and helped me deal with him."

Rory stared at the floor and stuffed her hands in her pockets, "yeah… I probably should have. But, then he would've just started yelling at me for helping the evil queen do evil shit or whatever. I really hate when he yells at me and calls me by my whole name."

Regina sighed and stormed off to her study, leaving Rory to suffer alone. She poured a glass of her cider and downed half of it before finally taking a deep breath and trying to calm herself. Rory wasn't to blame here. That pixie haired spoiled brat Mary Margaret aka Snow-fuckshitup-White was to blame. If she hadn't given him that book this never would've happened. Nevermind the question of how that book got into her town to begin with.

Rory tried to help at first, but the deeper Henry got into that book the worse he got. He had decided that she was the evil queen and Rory was Lorelei, probably based on her status as mayor and Rory's general appearance. He had also somehow gotten it in his head that Lorelei was some kind of immortal dark knight that defended the queen without question. She snorted at that one. The day Lorelei stopped questioning her was the day she died. Then again, Lorelei would probably find her in the afterlife to ask her why she thought dying was a good idea.

She wanted very much to read that book to figure out why he got things so twisted, but he kept it hidden somewhere usually. Yes, she had been the evil queen, but he didn't seem to understand how she got there or what Snow White did to her. He thinks that Daniel actually attacked her and Snow saved Regina by putting him to the death. Worst yet was that he thought she wanted to be the evil queen and that she murdered entire villages for sport.

She downed a second glass and sat on her couch to settle. Rory would be in before too long to try and chill her out. She would eventually bring her down, but Regina wouldn't make it easy.

Rory sat and ate a sandwich in the kitchen while she made a second peanut butter and jelly sandwich. She finished hers and downed a good two shots of the secret bourbon she kept in the pantry, then took a deep breath. She grabbed the second sandwich and made her way quietly upstairs. She would deal with the tiny demon first, and then the big one.

She knocked on the boys door softly and opened it slowly, prepared to dodge flying objects. That happened sometimes. When nothing hit the door, she held the sandwich into the room like a white flag of surrender. It took about 30 seconds but finally, little hands snatched it from her and she waited a few more seconds before finally stepping in the room.

Henry was sat on his bed, angrily chewing his sandwich. "Hey boy… don't choke."

Henry rolled his eyes and around a mouthful of sandwich said, "I'm not 5, you don't have to tell me not to choke anymore."

"I know you're not 5. When you were 5, I wasn't scared of you." Rory told him as she sat beside him.

"You're not scared of me. You're not scared of anything or anyone. You're immortal."

"K."

Henry finished his sandwich and turned to look at her in the eye, "Lorelei, you are a siren."

She grabbed his face in both her hands and told him in a stage whisper, "whatever you say doorstep demon baby."

He was laughing then and batted her hands away, "you'll see. I'm gonna get the savior and break the curse."

Rory stood and brushed the bread crumbs off him and onto the floor. She physically turned him upside down and rolled him around a bit until he was right in his bed, then covered him up. "The savior huh? Does he have a pink afro?"

Laughing, Henry settled into his bed, "probably not, and also, the savior is a girl."

"I see. Well, does she have a massive rack?"

Henry slapped his forehead and sighed, "not age appropriate ma."

Rory winced. She was really bad at age appropriate. He had gotten good at reminding her. "My bad. Okay, well, when the savior shows up, I will let her know not to mention her rack." She smiled at him as she turned off the light. "Night boy."

"Night ma."

Rory made her way down to the study. She detoured to the pantry and hit the bourbon just a little more. Then, she braced herself and stepped thru the study door.

Regina had turned on some low music to try and distract herself. She was mostly thru her third glass of cider and feeling much better for it. She heard Rory close the door and then she sat next to her, putting a gentle hand on her knee. She sipped her drink again and shook her head slightly, "what did I ever do to him? Did I mess up somehow? Am I a bad mother?"

Rory squeezed her knee reassuringly, "no, you're a good mom. I'm a bad mother, so I can tell the difference. He's just being an ass because of that book."

Regina giggled in spite of herself. She meant to be difficult, but the cider had relaxed her. "Do not call him an ass, that's not age appropriate dear."

Rolling her eyes, Rory crept closer, putting her arm around Regina's shoulders. "It doesn't count if he isn't within earshot."

Regina let herself be held by the woman. "It does count. I just wish he'd stop with all of this curse nonsense."

Shrugging, Rory held her tighter, assuming the war had been won. "Well, I imagine once he finds the savior and realizes she can't save anyone, he'll let it go."

Regina pulled back and stared at her, "what savior?" Rory looked around as if trying to find where that just came from but Regina pressed harder. "Rory, speak! What did he say about a savior? Does he think he knows where the savior is?"

Covering Regina's mouth with her hand, Rory finally got a word in. "Woah! He is batshit crazy babe. Chill. I have no idea who he thinks the savior is. All I know is he is sure it's a girl and they don't have a pink afro."

Regina groaned and fell back into Rory's side to be held. "You are the worst spy ever."

Rory pulled her in close and kissed the top of her head, "absolutely."

They held each other for a while since it was Thursday night. Tomorrow, Rory would be at the bar until 2 or 3 and Regina would be asleep by the time she got home. Saturday was better, but it still resulted in Rory getting home at 2 or 3 to a sleeping Regina.

…..

"Henry, I do not care if you think I am Godzilla, you will be in bed by nine!" Regina yelled up the stairs as Henry slammed his door shut.

Mary Margaret winced as she heard him scream back, "the evil queen is worse than Godzilla!"

Regina hit her head against the door while thinking a whole long list of insults she could not yell back at her ten year old son. "Miss Blanchard, have a good night, and no more god damn fairytales. I'm coming home late, and probably drunk. If you need anything, text Rory?"

Mary Margaret nodded, "okay, no problem."

….

Regina was more than happy to sock poor Ruby right in the mouth tonight, she didn't even waste it at the door this time. She let the woman sit next to her and waited for her to spew venom before she punched her right in the teeth.

She had a massive grin as Rory saved her just in time to avoid getting hit. Then she followed them out and managed to hit her again before she kissed Rory. She then had a short make out session with her girlfriend in the alley way before dragging her back in and downing two more drinks.

Rory was watching her carefully, she wanted Regina to blow off some stress, but didn't want her to go around hitting anyone else.

At the end of the night, Rory helped the stumbling Regina back to their home, which was far more difficult than getting her simply upstairs. Once she wrangled her into their bed, she promptly had her hands full with satisfying the physical needs of the woman. She did grin every time Regina got good and drunk though, because now, it was totally okay to take advantage of her drunk girlfriend. So long as they woke up together, Regina wouldn't be mad at all.

….

Regina sat up as the Sunday started. She smiled at the new week means no hangover feeling she had. She heard the shower start up and decided to get dressed and get Henry up so they could all go have breakfast.

Rory shut off the shower and had just dried off when she heard Regina scream her name from downstairs. She went racing, naked, down to her and looked around wildly for something worth screaming about.

Regina grabbed her and shook her a little, "Henry's gone!"

…

Regina was losing her mind with worry, she had scoured the town and he wasn't found. She had the sheriff and half the town looking, but then she got a hold of Mary Margaret who had been walking out of the sheriffs office as Regina was walking by it.

"Have you seen Henry?" Regina sked her. She knew it would be pointless to ask her about last night specifically, because it was a new week and she wouldn't remember the differences.

Mary Margaret shook her head, looking worried, "no, I was just here looking to make a report. Someone stole my credit card. I noticed it this morning and when I checked the transactions, someone bought a bus ticket to Boston and used it at fast food…"

Regina grabbed her arm and shut her up. "Boston?" The woman nodded at her. Regina let her go and rushed back home. It was getting late, but no one else would have left the town. Henry had to have stolen the stupid womans card last night. Regina had been drunk and had kept Rory from noticing anything in the house when they got home. She also didn't remember Rory checking her phone last night at the bar.

She ran inside and grabbed her car keys and coat, prepared to race to Boston to find her son when someone rang the front door bell. She waved at Rory who was also getting ready to go, to answer it.

Regina spun around when she heard Rory swear. Regina pushed past her and stood staring at Henry. She reached to hug him, so relieved, "oh my god Henry! Where have you been?"

Henry pulled away from her angrily and shouted, "you're not my real mom! She is," he pointed to a blonde woman behind him that no one had noticed before, "and she's the savior! She's going to break your curse!"

Rory sighed heavily and followed him as he ran upstairs. Regina turned to glare at the blonde woman in front of her. "You're Henry's birth mother?"

Emma nodded and looked really uncomfortable, "Uhm… hi?"

….


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Regina stared at the blonde woman for an odd amount of time before asking her to come in for a glass of cider. Her mind was reeling. How did Henry even find this woman? Regina had searched extensively for a mother and had come up with nothing at all. How had the woman gotten into the town? How had Henry gotten out and in again? That shouldn't be possible. In 28 years, no one has come or gone. All the false memories of people leaving or returning were just that; false.

She tried to calm her nerves a bit by pouring two glasses of cider. She gave one to the woman and sipped her own. The silence stretched out until finally, Emma said, "okay. So, this is really awkward. I'm sorry, really. I didn't reach out to him or anything. I couldn't have if I tried, it was a sealed adoption process. I'm not even half sure how he found me."

Regina nodded, gesturing to chair for Emma to sit down. "I'm not sure either. Did he tell you how he came to be with us?" Emma shook her head. "Well, we found him outside our front door one evening. We didn't go out and adopt him, you see. He was left on our doorstep. Of course, we fell in love immediately and then adopted him, but it wasn't arranged."

Emma frowned at her, "I don't understand at all. I signed the papers as soon as he was born, putting him up for adoption. He should have been cared for in the hospital until his adopters picked him up. I was told it had already been arranged and the family was waiting for him."

Regina shrugged, "well, I don't know how he got to us, but I can assure you, he is staying with us."

Emma choked a little on the very strong cider and held her hand up shaking her head, "oh, no! No, please. Don't think I am here to reclaim him, or anything. I mean, he seems great and I could probably handle a kid at my age now, but… I wanted him to have his best chance, you know? At the time, it was not with me. He has some crazy things rattling around in his head, but he's the mayor's kid. He has had way more love and attention than I ever did. I wouldn't try to take him."

Regina nodded and set her empty glass down. "Well, Miss Swan, it is late and if you came all the way from Boston today, you must be tired. There is a bed and breakfast just down the street, if you would like."

Emma finished her drink and stood, feeling dismissed. "That would probably be for the best, yeah." They walked to the door and Emma couldn't help herself, "you know, I wanted him to have his best chance… He seems really out of it, from what I can tell. Is there anything I should know, like, about his home life?"

Regina clenched her jaw. "Miss Swan, if you are insinuating that there is some kind of disturbance in my home…"

Holding her hands up, but not backing down, she said, "I'm just worried about the way his imagination seems to have over taken him. That's all."

Regina crossed her arms on her chest, standing straight. "Good night, Miss Swan. Have a safe trip back to Boston tomorrow."

…

Regina closed and locked the door, internally panicking. If that woman was the savior, her time was limited. She had to get her out of town before she tripped over something and accidentally broke the curse. Regina highly doubted the woman was capable of breaking anything on purpose.

She climbed the stairs quietly and stopped at Henry's door. It was open slightly and she could hear him and Rory talking.

"Okay. So, if your mom is the evil queen, then why does everyone here like her so much? Do you know how many people she has helped in town?" Rory was talking in a thoughtful tone.

Henry sighed heavily, "I don't know why she has helped people. Maybe she felt bad about cursing everyone to a wrong life in the wrong world?"

"I see. So, you're telling me, the evil queen had a change of heart? She suddenly feels bad for uprooting everyone?" Silence and Regina assumed Henry had nodded because Rory continued. "Okay, so then, she wouldn't really be the evil queen anymore, would she?"

"But she is. Even if she did turn into a nice person, everyone is still cursed. That's not right, even if most people are happy now. It's still not fair."

"Fine, I can roll with that. But, do you really think she deserves to be treated the way you have been treating her lately? After she's had this change of heart? Before you got that book, you were a sweet boy with manners and shit…" Henry made a noise and Rory corrected herself, making Regina smile, "and stuff. You never once felt unloved did you?"

Sighing again, Henry was shifting in his bed, getting comfortable. "I know she loves me. I really do. I just wish she would let Emma break the curse."

Regina heard Rory standing and moved back just a little, she didn't want Henry to know she had been listening. "Well, if what you say is right, she won't be able to stop it right? So, let the blonde bombshell savior work her magic. You, however, need to act right. You tell me I'm the evil queens guardian, so it's my job to protect your mom. You keep hurting her and I'll break out my siren karate and kick your ass."

Regina covered her mouth to stop her own giggle as she heard Henry laughing. The two said goodnight and Rory came out, closing the door behind her. She took Regina by the hand and led them to bed.

Regina laid awake on Rory's chest for hours, trying to figure out how to get Emma to stay away from her curse. No matter what, she couldn't let it break. She would lose Henry to Emma, and she assumed once Lorelei woke up, she'd lose her too. She refused to give up her finally happy ending.

…..

Regina and Rory made their way to the diner for breakfast together. Henry had wanted to eat at the diner today, so that's where they were headed before he had to be off to school. He had run ahead as he usually did. They watched him run into the diner and followed at a more respectable pace. Regina immediately regretted not sprinting.

As Regina entered the diner, she spied her son sitting across from Emma in the back booth. Her booth, to be precise. All eyes seemed to dart from Regina to where Emma sat and back again, as if waiting for an explosion. Rory squeezed her hand and whispered in her ear, "kill her with kindness. If she thinks Henry's fine, she'll leave town and we won't have to worry about her trying for custody. She doesn't want a kid, she just wants to make sure he's good."

Regina swallowed hard and nodded, making her way to the booth. She sat next to Henry as Emma watched with wide eyes. Rory popped down beside Emma and physically scooted her over to the wall with her own body, making herself plenty of space. She then smiled brightly at the stunned blonde and said, "good morning."

Emma nodded and gestured to the seat they now shared, "make yourself comfortable."

Rory winked at her, "I always do."

Henry giggled from across the table, "she's super intrusive sometimes."

Emma looked about to say something when Ruby came over to them, eyes firmly on her notepad. Emma frowned up at her and asked her instead, "Ruby? Is something wrong?"

Ruby smiled and looked at Emma specifically, "nope. Everythings great. What can I get you all?"

Looking confused, Emma shook her head and ordered her food. Once she was done, Regina, Rory and Henry all said, "the usual please" in unison.

Regina wasn't ready to speak to the blonde, so Rory tried to make small talk. "So, Emma, how're you doing?"

"Ah, fine, I guess. I got a room here last night, it's pretty nice, I guess." Emma looked at Henry, silently asking for help from Rory's penetrating stare.

Henry tried to help, "how long are you staying? Will you stay at least a year?"

Regina inhaled sharply at her sons forwardness, "Henry, that's really not polite. Miss Swan has a job and a life in Boston, I assume. She should be getting back to it."

Henry looked deflated, "oh. Well, maybe just a few days?"

Emma smiled at him, he was a really cute kid. "Maybe a few days, but I do have to get back before too long."

Regina clenched her jaw in anger. A few days was far too much time. "Miss Swan, please, don't feel obligated to stay longer than you already have. It can't be convenient to suddenly leave your job and home to return Henry to us."

Emma waited to respond as a different waitress put their plates in front of them, then she took a bite and closed her eyes making approving noises, "it's no inconvenience for this food. This is fantastic. I think I'll stick around a few days just so I can eat here a couple more times."

Regina smiled tightly and held her anger in check. It would not do for Henry to see her choke the woman. "Well, Granny's does make the best food in town."

Rory was already half way thru her plate of food and she swallowed a massive bite to quickly add, "second best!"

In spite of her anger, Regina laughed at her, "I'm sorry, of course, second best. Rory here is a very fine chef."

Henry nodded eagerly, "yeah she can cook like nobody else!"

Rory smiled proudly, with her chest out and pointed her fork at Emma's face, making the blonde jerk away, "Hear that? I'm the best chef ever!"

Emma stared at the fork, "ok. I believe you. I haven't had your food, so how could I know?"

Henry stretched across the table with his butter knife and pushed Rory's fork away from Emma, "ma, not nice to point sharp objects at peoples eyes." Once Rory nodded and went back to her food, Henry said, "why don't you come to dinner tonight? Then you could try it yourself."

Emma smiled at him, and glanced at Regina. Regina sighed, her mood had been lightened unwillingly, "Miss Swan, if you intend to stay another night, you are welcome to come to dinner at our home tonight."

Emma raised both brows at that. She was sure Regina despised her, but the offer almost seemed genuine. "Okay."

"What?" Regina said before she could stop herself.

Emma smiled too sweetly at her, "I said I'd love to Regina, thank you."

Regina nodded and gave her an entirely false smile before rising from the booth. "Henry, you will be late if you don't get going."

Henry jumped up and hugged Regina then high fived Rory. He waved at Emma who looked thoroughly trapped in the booth. She tried to politely get Rory to move, but no go. Regina watched Henry run out the diner and fall in with some other kids on their way to school. Then, she looked down and frowned at Rory who was staring at Emma, who in turn was holding her head in her hands.

Smiling, Regina poked Rory's shoulder, "Rory, dear, I think Miss Swan wants you out of the booth."

Rory jumped up as if this was some crazy insight. She took Regina's hand and they walked out of the diner after saying good bye to Emma.

…

Ruby waited until the door shut behind the mayor and Rory before rushing over to Emma. She sat across from her and whispered, "what the hell was that?"

Emma stared at her, "you're one to talk! What the hell was with you leaving me hanging like that? I could've used a buffer!"

They had spent most of the night chatting last night. Ruby was happy to meet someone new and Emma was feeling pretty out of place in this tight knit town. "yeah… me an them have a past…"

Emma frowned, "you didn't tell me that."

Ruby groaned, "I was hoping I wouldn't have to. Look, I'll tell you later, after my shift. Let's just say, I know my place around here, at least when they're around okay?"

Emma watched as Ruby rushed off to clear plates and tend to people. She shook her head and headed back to her room. This was the strangest town she had ever found, and she had seen a hell of a lot of towns.

…

Regina kissed Rory and headed into her office to do the same paperwork as every other day. She hoped Emma would see a nice happy, normal family and go away. In case she didn't, Regina would then consider other avenues. For now, she would let things play out. No major differences had been seen so far, so she wasn't overly concerned.

…

Rory walked Regina to her office then wandered over to the old library. The library itself was closed up, but the apartment above it was occupied by Lacy. Rory let herself in, she never bothered knocking. Lacy was sitting at her small table, eating what looked like cereal.

Rory sat next to her and ran a hand thru her hair, "So, Henry's birth mother is hanging out at the bed and breakfast."

Lacy nodded, "yeah I heard."

"That's it? You heard? You're not concerned or worried or stressed at all?"

Lacy finished her bowl of cereal and took her bowl to the sink. "It has nothing to do with me, I'm not the one with a doorstep baby remember?"

Rory frowned at her and then went to the womans closet, throwing pants and a shirt out at her. "Yeah, well… it's stressful for me."

Lacy stepped around the offered clothing, she had no plans of changing out of her pajamas today until she opened the bar at 5. "Hey, that sucks… for you. Still doesn't involve me."

Rory growled a bit when she watched the woman lay back down on her bed. She picked up the clothes and threw them at her, but Lacy just rolled over, turning her back to Rory. So, Rory did the next best thing, she slapped the womans ass hard enough to make her jump up and start swinging back at Rory. Rory grabbed her hands and smiled brightly as she held onto her, "Come on, it's nearly eleven, time to sort the inventory."

Lacy pulled away, frowning furiously, "I hate you so very much."

"Some days."

"Most days," Lacy said as she got dressed.

….

Emma was trying to keep herself occupied, but how much can you do in a single room? Even if she did have a good view of the main street. She sat and stared out the window for a while before anything interesting happened. She sat up and watched as Rory went dashing away with a small brown haired woman on her arm. They seemed to be going somewhere together in a hurry.

Emma frowned in thought, surely Rory wasn't sneaking off with some other woman while Regina worked was she? Shrugging, Emma jumped up and decided to find out. She really had nothing better to do.

….

Regina was taking a coffee break, staring out the window as she waited for the pattern to occur. Every weekday, she went to work and Rory fetched Lacy to go play at the bar. Regina knew damn well what they did with their days, and it was certainly not inventory. She smirked as she watched Rory nearly dragging Lacy down the street towards the bar. She intended to sit back down and finish the papers she always wrote at the same time, but she saw Miss Swan sneaking behind Rory and Lacy at the last moment. She stared as the blonde woman tried to look casual as she obviously followed them.

Regina groaned and started gathering her purse and jacket. If Emma caught them in the act, it was going to make looking normal happy and healthy far more difficult.

….

Emma watched from around the corner as Rory and the other woman unlocked the door on what must be a bar. The sign said Rabbit Hole and there were no uncovered windows. She frowned hard as she saw Rory open the door and make a small bow to allow the other woman to enter first. Then her brows shot up in surprise as Rory slapped the other woman on the behind before following her inside.

Emma was two steps into that direction when Regina called her name, nearly giving her a heart attack. Emma spun around, trying to look casual. "Hey, madam mayor, how are you?"

Regina didn't have time for this nonsense, she had a schedule and this woman was interfering with it, "are you stalking my girlfriend?"

Emma sputtered a bit before finally managing a verbal response, "what? No! That's ridiculous, why would I do that?"

Regina crossed her arms and glared at the woman, unconvinced, "I watched you sneak around behind them for at least five minutes, Miss Swan."

Emma winced and finally decided to come clean, "okay, maybe I was following them, but only because I'm getting bored and I thought maybe they were going someplace… not boring?"

Regina rolled her eyes and nodded towards the bar, "that's Rory's bar. She owns it. It's a local favorite, nearly everyone stops in on Friday and Saturday nights. During the week, however, it doesn't open until five. If you are in more immediate need of liquor, may I suggest the grocery store up the road?"

Emma groaned in spite of herself, "no, I don't need a drink. I just was looking for something to do besides sit in my room and stare at the walls."

Smiling now, Regina gestured back towards the diner, "well, I am going for lunch now, if you would like to join me? I don't usually eat so early, but my schedule has been interrupted by my girlfriends stalker."

Emma gave her a tight smile and nodded, "sure. I'd love to."

Regina walked silently to the diner, mentally sighing in relief. She didn't need this woman finding a reason to stick around.

….

Regina dropped her things on the small table by the door with great relief that the work day was over, but then she rolled her eyes at the memory that they were having Miss Swan for dinner. She went upstairs to freshen up and change into something more casual.

Rory came home and quickly found Regina changing and decided to start dinner. Archie was dropping Henry off at home today after their session so everything seemed to be going well.

Henry came home and sat to do his homework until dinner was ready, as usual. Regina nodded as everything went the way it does usually. She liked the routine now. She was used to it. The door bell rang and Regina frowned before remembering the break in pattern and walking to the door to let Emma in.

The dinner was perfect, the conversation was awkward. Emma seemed to stay on topics like the food, the weather and Henry. Nothing heavy, nothing invasive. She desperately wanted to hear what past these two had with Ruby though. They seemed fairly normal, even with Rory's quirks. The woman ate like a starving wolf. Then she just sat and rather impatiently waited for everyone else to catch up.

Once the painful dinner ended, Emma said good night and headed back to the inn. Regina shut the front door and sighed heavily with relief. Dinner was boring and normal, just as it needed to be. She sent Henry off to bed and Rory met her in the study, two glasses of cider already waiting on the coffee table. Regina smiled at Rory siting on the couch, waiting nicely.

Regina licked her lips and decided to have an unexpectedly delightful night. She kicked her heels off and slowly made her way over to the woman on the couch. Rory noticed the shift immediately. Regina had that delicious feral look in her eye and Rory's mouth was already hanging open at the slow stalk she was doing in getting to the couch.

Turning her back to Rory, Regina bent at the waist to slowly pick up the glass of cider. She drank it slowly, a low moan coming from her as she sat the empty tumbler down again. She turned to find Rory with slightly glazed eyes, staring at her. She smirked and pulled her skirt up a bit, one half inch at a time until it was high enough for her to straddle the woman's lap.

Breathing heavily, Rory had to clear her throat twice before she could speak, "well hello there. Please, make yourself comfortable."

Smirking down at the other woman, Regina slowly popped open two buttons on her blouse, "I always do darling. Now, tell me, did you miss me today?"

Rory nodded slowly without taking her eyes off the blouse that was slowly being unbuttoned while she ran her hands up and down the smooth thighs pinning her down to the couch. "Oh, yes. Yes I did. Very very much. How are you so fucking perfect?"

Regina undid the last button then grabbed two fistfuls of Rory's hair, pulling her head back and kissing her passionately. She then leaned down, holding the woman's head back, and whispered in a deeper voice than usual, "prove it."

….

Emma made her way back to the inn to find Ruby sitting on her bed. She shut the door and locked it before kicking off her boots and throwing her jacket on the chair. She finally sat by Ruby and sighed heavily, "aside from Rory having an affair, they seem totally normal."

Ruby started laughing so hard she had a few tears in her eyes, "an affair? Rory? You're very mistaken!"

Emma glared at her until she stopped laughing, "I am not. I saw her with a smaller woman with brown hair today. They practically danced over to the rabbit hole and then, Rory smacked the girls ass before they went in."

Ruby giggled some more but still shook her head, "it's not what you seem to think. The other girl is probably Lacy, the bartender. Lacy tends all week on her own, and on Friday and Saturday Rory tends with her."

"Oh, so no such thing as a boss banging an employee? Come on Rubes, you can't be that blind."

Ruby rolled her eyes, "trust me, I know for a fact that they are not 'banging'."

Emma crossed her arms on her chest, "how do you know?"

"Okay, I tell you what, stick around until Sunday and I can prove it to you."

Emma chewed her lip for a minute. She had intended to leave in the morning, the kid was fine, just a little too imaginative. She couldn't justify hanging around just to spy on Rory. "Tell me about your past, then I'll decide."

Ruby got a sad look on her face then, and went to the small fridge to get beers. She handed one to Emma and opened her own, "fine. But we're gonna need more beer."

Emma listened as Ruby started from the top and worked her way to present. They had all known each other pretty much their entire lives. Rory was always defending Regina from her mother and bullies at school like a little body guard. Even when Regina went to college, Rory went with her and worked while Regina did classes. Everywhere Regina went, Rory went. When Ruby and Rory started dating, Ruby thought she would have Rory's time, but not if Regina needed her. Rory would run off at the drop of a hat anytime Regina spoke. Ruby couldn't deal with it forever, no matter how much she loved her. One day, Ruby decided to leave Storybrooke to go travel. She begged Rory to go with her, but Rory wouldn't leave Regina. Regina was grounded already looking to become mayor.

Ruby waited and postponed her plans a thousand times, hoping Rory would pick her just once. Then, the first drunken night happened and Ruby had enough. Regina's mother had just died and been buried so Regina was a mess. Ruby gave Rory an ultimatum of one or the other. Rory didn't even blink before picking to stay with Regina.

Ruby had left, broken hearted, and by the time she came back, Regina was mayor and Rory lived with her. She had then decided to keep her head down whenever they were around.

Emma shook her head, "I'm sorry Rubes, that sounds like torture."

Wiping a tear from her face, Ruby nodded, "yeah, it was. But, it's in the past now, so no worries."

"Now they live a happy little life with a kid and everything."

Ruby huffed and fetched another beer. "Except Regina is a manipulative bitch, yeah."

"How so?"

Ruby sat and proceeded to tell her every under handed dirty maneuver the mayor had used through the years to secure the entire town. Emma listened and became more concerned by the second.

….

As Regina came down from her second release, she was ready for more, but then something happened. Everyone in town felt it. From one moment to the next, something shifted. Regina stared at Rory as Rory felt it too and stared back. Shrugging it off as a chill, Regina promptly took Rorys hand and they raced to the bedroom to finish the evening with enthusiasm.

Neither bothered to pull away long enough to find the source of the unusual feeling, if they had, they would have noticed that the old clock tower that had been forever stopped, had just ticked it's first minute in 28 years.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

It was Saturday morning and Regina could chew thru leather. The damn clock was ticking, her son kept running off to Emma and apparently she meant to stick around. They had had plenty of words with each other, but Emma seemed convinced Regina had a secret life of ruining people's lives. She didn't seem to care that Regina had fixed nearly all the wrongs in town that she had assisted in making. She didn't seem to think about the effect that their fighting was having on Henry. Henry refused to see Archie anymore, convinced that Emma was going to break the curse. Of course Regina held firm that there was no such thing as magic and curses and evil queens.

Rory seemed to be walking on eggshells and spending more time at the bar to avoid the two women entirely. The whole town could see the way Emma and Regina hated each other, even if it hadn't come to actual fighting yet.

The biggest problem Emma had was apparently with Regina's past. The present was all nice and good, but the woman couldn't get over how Regina got to where she is now.

Regina finished cleaning the house by noon, which had become the pattern since Henry came along. Rory was at the bar already, helping Lacy clean the bar and get it ready for the evening events. Regina was nervous this time to go to the bar, she didn't know how much the pattern would be changed now that the curse had loosened enough to allow for time. She could hope that Sunday would bring the familiar loop, but she couldn't know for sure.

All she could do was try to keep her world together. So, she decided to take a nap before getting ready to go to the bar. She planned to be there by 445 to catch Ruby at the door. She didn't want to let Ruby thru the door with Emma running around.

…..

Rory was organizing the kegs in the backroom when Regina took her seat at the bar. She showed Lacy the white roses and as usual, she was very excited about them.

Rory came out of the back room and showed Regina just how happy she was about the flowers by holding her tightly around the waist and kissing her very passionately.

"Wow, just all about the PDA today huh?"

Regina jumped slightly at the sound of Emma's voice. She clenched her jaw as she saw that Ruby was specifically not looking at them, right behind Emma. She checked her watch quickly, it was only 459. Regina swore under her breath but tried to cover her surprise with a polite smile. "Miss Swan, Miss Lucas, I'm glad you two could swing in tonight."

Emma cocked a brow, very unconvinced Regina was happy to see either of them. "Yeah, Ruby said this was the place to be on a Saturday. Don't worry," Emma held her hands up in surrender with a smile, "Ruby explained the rules of this place to me. I won't be starting any trouble."

Regina shrugged and wrapped her arms around Rory's neck. She did not approve of PDA usually… But she had decided to make Ruby as uncomfortable as possible tonight. "What song are you singing tonight?" She asked Rory in a silky voice.

Swallowing thickly, Rory was enjoying all this passion lately. "Uh… it's a surprise, as usual. No spoilers babe."

Regina kissed her soundly, catching Ruby walking away towards a booth in the back of the bar. She grinned in triumph and released the woman, enjoying the slightly off balance jump over the bar top she made. The flowers were put in a vase on the end of the bar so everyone would always see them.

Regina happily sipped her special drink and checked her phone to make sure Mary Margaret hadn't texted her. She was taking it easy tonight, not wanting to let her guard down too much.

She rolled her eyes when she watched Emma sit next to her. "Really Miss Swan, can you find no one else to bother? Saturday night is the only time I can relax and let some stress go, I'd appreciate you not being anywhere near me."

Emma just smiled at her, "you know, at first I was a bit concerned that you spend every Saturday at the bar, but I can see for myself now that it isn't really a problem."

"Well, I am so very happy that you approve of my lifestyle Miss Swan. You do realize that just because my Sheriff was stupid enough to make you a deputy, it does not mean you can parade into my business when ever you wish it."

Emma laughed a little and was about to respond but she looked up to find Rory staring at her. "uh… hi, Rory."

Rory crossed her arms on her chest and glanced at Regina, "everything good babe?"

Regina smiled sweetly at her and nodded, "oh yes dear. Miss Swan was just telling me that she approves of me having a night at the bar."

Emma had the grace to blush before finishing her beer and handing the empty bottle to Rory, "can I have another, please?"

Rory got her a new one and before she handed it to her she said, "maybe you should take one to Ruby too?" When Emma nodded Rory got another one for Ruby and watched as she walked away from the bar. Then she leaned down to get a kiss from Regina. "I got you babygirl."

Regina giggled and gave her a second kiss, "please don't call me that. Thank you, but I had it handled dear."

Rory went about tending to the bar and Regina watched the room flow. It was different, but not extremely. Instead of flirting with some guy, Ruby was sitting and chatting happily with Emma at a booth in the back. Of course, Mary Margaret hadn't been around on a Saturday since Henry came around.

Regina jumped a little when Rory slapped the bar with her hands and announced loudly that it was time for karaoke. Everyone cheered and howled in response. The list was by the microphone and the first singer took the stage. After three of the usual singers singing the same songs, Regina mentally sighed when the pattern changed. Ruby took to the stage after a lot of prodding from Emma. Halfway thru the song, Emma joined her on stage.

The crowd loved the improvised duet. Regina rolled her eyes as they went back to their booth. The night drug on as Regina waited for her favorite surprise. Rory looked to be getting irritated with the local singers. She was getting ready to sing.

Finally, after a wretched rendition of the titanic theme song, Rory whistled loudly and everyone looked at her in anticipation. When she hopped over the bar, everyone was cheering her on. Regina cocked a brow at Emma who had looked towards her. She was very proud of Rory, and she was about to flaunt her girlfriends talents to the blonde.

As the music started, everyone started clapping to the beat. Rory grabbed the microphone and did not disappoint.

Some like beautiful, perfect and pretty

I see the good in the bad and the ugly

I need the volume one louder than ten

Put the pedal to the metal, needle into the red

If the windows ain't shaking making my heart race

If I can't feel it in my chest I'm in the wrong damn place

Got a demon in my soul and a voice in my head

Saying go go go I can sleep when I'm dead

There's a sonic revelation bringing me to my knees

And there's a man down below the needs my sympathies

I got a ringin in my ears getting ready to burst

Screaming hallelujah mother fucker

Take me to church

Even Regina was on her feet now, everyone was yelling and jumping around, only fueling Rory's fire as she belted out the lyrics the way she always did. Regina was beaming proudly as she watched Emma's face. The woman was absolutely stunned.

I like it louder than the boom of a big bass drum

I need it harder than the sound of guitar grunge

I like to crank it up

Make it thump

And lead on to the chord

Head bangin in the pit and throwin my horns

And just like old school sabbath,

Zeppelin and Lemmy

I need to drop it down low and make it heavy

I like it heavy

Regina screamed along with everyone else while Rory sang herself red in the face. By the time the song ended, everyone was hyped up and begging for another shot or beer. Lacy and Rory made short work of the stage and were quick to get back behind the bar. Of course, Regina gave her a massive congratulatory kiss before she was allowed to tend the bar again.

Emma waited until the bar was cleared up again before coming over and standing near Regina to get Rory's attention. Once the siren came over, Emma smiled at her brightly, "oh my god Rory that was fucking amazing!"

Rory puffed up a bit, and leaned on the bar towards her, she gave her best grin, "you know, Henry says I'm a siren. Maybe he's on to something?"

Emma scoffed at her and looked at Regina, "is her ego always this massive?"

Regina finished her third drink and nodded happily, "oh yes dear. In fact, usually her ego is so enlarged after a Saturday performance, she has to sleep in the yard because her head won't fit thru the damn door."

They laughed together and Emma sat on the stool next to her. Regina wasn't sure how it happened, but halfway thru her fourth drink, the two women were chatting happily and laughing together. Rory watched them as she worked, but it seemed they were getting along for the first time since Emma showed up in town.

The night was going smoothly. By 915, Mary Margaret texted Rory and Regina telling them Henry was in bed. Regina decided one more drink wouldn't hurt. She had actually forgotten about Ruby until the woman stumbled up on the other side of Emma.

"Wow Regina, you take all the best women don't you?" Ruby leaned past Emma to look at Regina.

Regina sighed, too much to hope she could skip this part of the Saturday. "Ruby, maybe you have had a bit much to drink?"

Emma was frowning at Ruby, she did look pretty drunk. "Ruby, you good?"

Giggling, Ruby finished her drink and nodded, "yeah Em, I'm good. I'm just sayin, first she stole my girlfriend, now she's stolen my new friend." She shrugged and smiled at Emma. "I'm pretty used to it."

Emma tried to turn Ruby towards the door, intending to take her home, "okay, Ruby. No one stole me, alright? I came over to get another drink and you went off to talk to that guy. You are drunk, and I think we're going home. I'll get our jackets from the booth and then we're out."

Emma darted off to get the jackets and Ruby stumbled in close to Regina, nearly growling, "what is with you and my leftovers? Like a bitch, scrounging for scraps…"

Regina didn't even think twice before swinging. She connected with the taller woman's jaw and watched her hit the floor. She jumped up and Regina waited for Rory to jump in. Except this time, Rory didn't save her, a whirl of blonde hair whipped in front of her and grabbed Ruby before the woman could pull her hand back to hit Regina.

Rory stepped in front of Regina a second later. The siren would've saved her, but this time, Emma did it first. "Okay, fun times. Now I know to cut her off sooner, good lesson. Let's go Rubes."

Regina watched Emma half shove half support Ruby out the door. Rory turned to face her and Regina told her what had happened. Rory hugged her and examined her hand, then hopped over the bar to get her an ice pack. The rest of the night, Rory stayed close with an eye on the door.

Regina wanted to leave shortly after the incident, but Rory didn't want her to walk home alone. Lacy didn't want to close on a Saturday alone either. Regina was about to leave anyway when Emma walked back in the bar. Rory tensed up, not sure what the blonde was all about.

Emma waved shyly, walking up to Regina, "hey, uhm… aside from the whole fight scene, I had a great night. I didn't want to leave it hanging there. I was also wondering if I could meet you all for breakfast tomorrow? I was told you guys always eat at the diner Sunday morning."

Regina was about to accept on the grounds that Henry would appreciate it, but Rory cut in, "you can join us, and I'll buy yours, but only if you walk Regina home."

Regina's mouth dropped open in shock at Rory's bartering, but Emma interrupted quickly, "yeah! Absolutely! Ruby's in her bed passed out, but I get it. It's late, you want to get home to Henry but Rory is still working."

Rory nodded and kissed Regina quickly before shoving them out the door. Regina huffed in indignation before gesturing for Emma to hurry up. "If you're escorting me home then I would appreciate a brisk pace."

Emma kept up just fine. "Wow, so, as soon as you walk out those doors you turn into an ass again?"

Regina stumbled a bit but recovered quickly, "I am not trying to be an ass Miss Swan, I just do not need a bodyguard in my own town."

Emma laughed lightly, "hell no you don't. You knocked Ruby on her ass! I'm sure you have nothing to fear out in this town at night. But… your girl seems to think you are a fragile little thing that needs watching. So, let's make her happy and let me walk you home?"

Regina sighed and relented. They didn't talk the rest of the way, Regina was too deep in thought. What Emma said made her think. Rory had let Emma walk her home… Rory didn't trust anybody as far as Regina was concerned. Not here in Storybrooke, and not in the enchanted forest. The only one she ever asked to protect her instead was Red. Of course, the siren couldn't remember, but that hadn't ended well. But, she trusted Emma to walk her home, half drunk in the middle of the night.

Once they reached the front walk, Emma said good night and Regina asked her to wait just a moment. She opened the door and when Mary Margaret was ready to go, she introduced the pair. She found it amusing to introduce Emma to her mother, but more than that, she decided Emma needed a different friend.

"Emma, would you be kind enough to walk Miss Blanchard home? You did such a good job delivering me, I know you could get her there also." Regina said with a smile.

Mary Margaret laughed lightly, "Regina, I hardly need a body guard."

Emma laughed and waved good bye to Regina, turning MM towards the sidewalk, "hey, if the mayor is important enough for a deputy body guard, so are you."

MM smiled and shrugged, gesturing down the road towards her home. "Well fine then, but I insist you come in for a cup of tea."

They laughed and chatted until they came to the loft. Just by chance, Emma mentioned staying at the inn. Just by chance, Mary Margaret needed a room mate.

….

Regina fell asleep before Rory made it home, but that was typical. She woke up and sat up slowly, waiting to hear the shower start. Instead, she jumped and fell out of bed onto the floor when a hand touched her back.

"Woah!" Rory shouted as she watched Regina hit the floor. She quickly jumped out of bed and was kneeling beside the shaky looking woman. "Hey, what's wrong? I didn't mean to scare you!"

Regina was shaking. She was terrified. The loop was gone. The pattern was destroyed. Her curse was weakening. Her hand hurt like hell… "my hand is killing me."

Rory huffed a laugh as she helped her back to sit on the bed. "Well, yeah. That'll happen when you slam your knuckles against someone's face babe."

Regina just stared around in a numb sort of shock. It was unraveling. Rory remembered Saturday, her hand hurt. She was going to lose everything. Henry was going to run off and live with Emma and mommy and daddy Charming. Rory… Lorelei, was probably going to abandon her on account of being theoretically raped for 28 years. No way the siren could forgive this one. She inhaled sharply as two hands cupped her face and tilted her head up to look into pale grey eyes.

"Hey, what's going on? You don't look too well, are you sick? Let me go get some ibuprofen for your hand then I'll take your temperature." Rory darted out the door and then back in long enough to grab a robe. She occasionally forget clothing. Then she was running downstairs.

Regina stood and put a robe on herself, looking out the window at her town. Everything was going to change now. The curse wasn't fully broken though, she still had time. She had to get rid of Emma. She tried waiting her out and being civil, now the gloves were coming off.

….

Regina pulled herself together and insisted she was fine. The three of them finally made their way to Grannys for Sunday breakfast. They found Emma already seated and joined her. Emma grabbed Henry and pulled him in next to her, but Rory pulled him out of the seat and pushed him in next to Regina. Emma groaned and rubbed her temples as Rory knocked her closer to the wall.

Regina laughed lightly as she made Henry switch her seats so he sat by the wall. "We like to sit across from one another, Miss Swan."

Ruby popped up and stared at her notepad. "What'll it be?"

Everyone said the usual except Emma who ordered the special. Regina was about to ask for coffee, but Ruby was already pouring it. She hadn't forgotten the pot. This was a new Sunday. Regina looked up at the woman and saw the mass of purple and yellow on her jaw. She considered apologizing, but decided not to mention it. Ruby rushed off to get their food.

Granny came over and crossed her arms on her chest. Regina waited for a good talking to. Granny had nearly raised her after all, she was still to be respected. That's why she got a whole diner and inn to her name in the curse. "Regina, I heard that nasty mess on Ruby's face is your work?"

Regina blushed slightly, "it is."

"Was she running her mouth again? Too much booze?"

Regina nodded, "yes… but I shouldn't have hit her, I'm sorry."

Granny huffed a laugh, "don't be. She knows better than to get liquored up like that. Makes her mouth run faster than her brain. But don't let it happen in my diner."

Regina nodded and Granny headed off again. Reaching for her coffee cup and finding only air, Regina glared at Rory who was finishing the cup. "Why? Why can't you just get your own coffee?"

Henry was giggling, "she said it tastes better when it's stolen."

Emma was trying not to laugh, but failed. Rory handed the empty cup back and smiled at her, "it's true."

Regina shook her head and allowed a tiny smile, "do not steal my coffee again today."

After they had finished eating, Emma and Henry asked to run off to Mary Margarets loft. Regina frowned, "why would you want to go there?"

Emma sat straighter and said quietly, "I've moved in with her. She needed a room mate, I needed a longer term place."

Regina blinked rapidly and nodded instead of stabbing. "Yeah, I suppose. Maybe you can hang out with her today? Just be home by dinner?"

Henry bounced excitedly and hugged Regina tightly before dragging Emma out the door happily.

Rory grabbed Regina's hand and looked at her suspiciously, "you're letting him chill with her all day? You're sick. I'm taking you home."

Shaking her head quickly, Regina tugged Rory towards the bench by the bay. "No, you have things to do, and so do I. I am fine, I promise."

Rory wrapped her arm around the woman as they watched the ships moving around the harbor. "Okay. But you have to call me if you start feeling not fine. I need to go help Lacy put the monthly liquor order away, then I'll be home. Probably around dinner time. You feel like cooking or you want me to?"

Regina laughed and snuggled in to her side, "no, I'd like dinner to be good. But I will make dessert."

"Ooh, what's for dessert?"

Regina grinned, "apple turnovers."

….

Emma was sneaking around behind the buildings with Ruby, making their way to the rabbit hole. Henry had been bribed by cookies to hang out with Mary Margaret until dinner. "Ruby, why are we creeping thru the alleys?"

Ruby rolled her eyes, "you wanted proof that Rory wasn't banging Lacy right? Well, if Regina catches us creepin on Rory, she'll snatch us up."

"You're actually mental Rubes."

They stopped beside a building, peeking around the side. Emma watched Rory walking towards the bar with her arm around Lacy's shoulders. They were smiling and practically skipping. Once at the door, Rory let Lacy go in first and followed closely behind her.

Ruby grinned like a maniac, "there you go. Now, go walking up in there in about ten minutes."

"Ten minutes?"

Ruby nodded, leaning against the wall, "yep. If you go too soon, how will you know they were getting it on?"

Emma rolled her eyes and leaned against the wall too. "Ruby, I have no idea what you're playing but that is a good point."

…

Emma waited about ten minutes and then made her way into the bar. The first thing that hit her was the smoke. Someone was definitely smoking pot. She crept slowly towards the bar. She heard giggling coming from behind it. She was suddenly mildly disgusted. Of all the places to get it on, behind the bar was one of the most unsanitary places. She took a deep breath before clearing her throat. The giggling stopped and after a moment of silence she heard voices.

"What was that?"

"Did you hear something?"

"Maybe we're haunted."

"By what? A drunk ghost?"

Emma rolled her eyes as the giggles commenced and another roll of smoke billowed out from behind the bar. She understood now. "Alright guys, come out here."

Lacy poked her head up first, her eyes barely above the bar top. She whispered loudly, "oh my god. Rory… it's the law."

Rory slowly lifted her head over the bar top, smoke still trailing out of her mouth as she whispered back, also loudly, "that's Henry's other mother, Miss Goose."

Lacy frowned hard and squinted at Emma, "Henry's other mother is the law goose?"

Rory nodded, knocking her head on the bar top, "yeah. Deputy mother goose."

They erupted in another fit of giggles and fell back down behind the bar. "I cannot believe I thought you two were bangin."

Rory stood upright then, looking nearly serious, "the fuck Goose?!"

Lacy fell down twice, but eventually stood up beside her, both leaning on the bar for support, "you thought me an Rory were sleeping together? That's horrible. Regina would kick my ass."

Emma nodded, "yeah, I thought you guys snuck off here to hook up. But no, you're just pot heads."

Rory laughed loudly, "you're an idiot, mother goose. There is an entire apartment upstairs, if I wanted to bang somebody, I would take them up there. But I only want to bang Regina. She's ridiculously attractive."

Lacy nodded enthusiastically, "yeah, Regina is stupid hot. Like, if I had to choose between Regina and me, I'd pick Regina. Well, I mean if those were my only options."

Emma took a seat on a stool and took the smoke from Rory's hand while she was distracted, taking a good hit before putting it back in the womans fingers. "What if you had every option Lacy? Anybody at all, who would you pick?"

Lacy giggled and shook her head then slapped Rorys arm, gesturing for her to tell. Rory winked at her and leaned towards Emma, grinning widely, "she wants to shake Ruby's sugar tree."

Emma was shocked, "seriously? You got a thing for Ruby?"

Lacy nodded, snagging the smoke from Rory, "yes I do. I got a lot of things for Ruby, actually."

Emma felt the giggle come out of herself, apparently they had some strong stuff. "I can see why, she's pretty easy on the eyes."

Rory nodded, "yeah she's not bad to look at." She slid over the bar and sat next to Emma as they all passed the smoke around again. "Now, you, Emma, you're not too bad yourself. Who you got your eye on?"

Emma wasn't new to smoking and still had some of her wits about her. She decided to see if Rory was really as loyal as Ruby claimed. She eyed Rory up and down again. Then she stood and leaned over her, pushing Rory's back against the bar top. She got real close to her face and licked her lips before saying, "what if I said you were my type?"

Rory grinned and cocked a brow at the blonde woman leaning over her, "I would say you aren't even close to being enough woman for me."

Lacy started laughing so hard she fell over again. Emma pulled back with her brows high, "you serious?"

Rory laughed at her and put a hand on Emma's shoulder, pushing her back to her stool. "I assure you, Swan, you can't possibly imagine how loyal I am to Regina Mills. You have no idea the lengths I would go to, just to love her."

Emma nodded and took another hit, "good. Just checking. You're not really my type." She watched Lacy stand herself back up with a bottle of bourbon in her hand, pouring three shots.

Lacy poured the drinks and as she pushed them towards the women she said, "you have no idea how many chicks I have watched throw themselves at my friend here. Only two ever made it, and honestly, if Regina had tried first, Ruby wouldn't have had a chance in hell."

They all laughed and smoked and compared men and women in town. Emma was actually thoroughly enjoying her time today. Good thing the kid had wanted to chill with Mary Margaret at the loft. She was gonna need to shake off her high before getting back to take him home for dinner.

….


	23. Chapter 23

**I forgot to mention at the end of the last chapter, the song was 'I like it heavy' by Halestorm. I don't own it.**

 **As for this chapter, I'm not a big fan of the pre curse breaking era. So, let's jump a bit.**

Chapter 23

Regina watched Rory head towards the library. She shook her head, Lacy was about to get woken up and drug to the bar. Shrugging, Regina decided to continue pretending she didn't know just how baked they got together. Eventually, the bar was going to need actual work done now that time was rolling. But, until then, it wasn't the worst way they could spend a Sunday afternoon.

She headed to her mother's tomb, entering her secret rooms. She cleared all the dust off the bottles she hadn't thought she would look at again. She organized and rearranged everything before settling down to read a spell book. She needed to decide exactly how to get rid of Emma without it looking like she did anything at all.

She had come up with a few different ideas before it was time to head home for dinner. She had to bake the turnovers so they would be cool before dinner was finished.

….

Rory and Emma were checking each other, making sure they didn't look high, or drunk. Emma straightened Rory's jacket as Rory fluffed Emma's hair. They both turned and frowned as Lacy started laughing behind them. She was leaning on the door to her apartment, watching the other two try and fix themselves. "You guys are completely busted. You both look absolutely blitzed."

Rory frowned and pointed at Lacy, "you look like you just climbed out of a trash bin."

Lacy laughed and posed with her arms spread open, "yes, but I'm single and don't have a kid. I'm allowed to look like trash."

Emma waved her off and pulled Rory with her as they headed for the loft. "Never mind her, we look fine."

They got to the loft door and Emma was searching for her keys. "Shit, I can't find the keys!"

Rory started helping her check pockets and had her arms around the blonde, hands in her back pockets, Emma had her hands up in the air, letting Rory check, when MM stepped out the door. With a shocked face, the woman shut the door quickly and slapped at them until they separated. "What are you two doing? Are you seriously feeling each other up with Henry right inside? What if he sees you? What if he tells Regina? She would kill you both! I swear you have no idea how to keep things low key."

Emma and Rory glanced at each other and busted up laughing so hard they were leaning on each other with tears in their eyes. They eventually fell to the floor, still giggling as Mary Margaret stared at them. Emma finally caught her breath and held her hand up to MM, "we are not feeling each other up. She was checking my pockets because I couldn't find my keys."

Rubbing her face in exasperation, MM sighed, "you guys are high aren't you? Drunk too?"

Rory put a hand on her heart in an attempt to look offended, but it wasn't really working considering she was sitting on the floor with Emma leaning against her back. "Miss Blanchard! How dare you insinuate that the good deputy, mother goose, would partake in such criminal activity?"

Emma stood up, shakily, "yeah, how dare you? I am a professional law enforcing… uhm…" Emma faltered and helped Rory stand and whispered loudly to her, "hey, what am I?" Rory whispered something back and Emma turned back to MM with an outraged look, "Yeah! I am a professional law enforcing goose!"

Rory was laughing again and Emma seemed to realize what she said and they started slapping at each other. Mary Margaret got their attention again and once they were focused on her she asked quietly, "aren't you two supposed to be at Regina's house? With Henry? In ten minutes? To eat the meal Rory was supposed to have started cooking an hour ago?!"

Rory stared at her, "oh shit."

Emma stared at Rory, "oh shit."

MM groaned and pulled her cell phone out, dialing Regina's number.

…

Regina had called Rory ten times already and gotten no answer. She was starting to worry. She had decided when Emma got there with Henry, she would ask her to go find the woman. Her phone rang and she quickly answered it.

"Rory?!"

Mary Margarets voice came thru instead, "uhm, no, Regina."

"Miss Blanchard? What's wrong? Is Henry okay?"

"No no, he's fine, he's been with me all afternoon actually."

Regina frowned hard, "with you? Where is Emma?"

"Uhm, yeah, that's why I'm calling. I think Emma and Rory spent the afternoon together… at the bar…"

Regina groaned loudly, she could heard two people laughing in the back ground. "Where are they?"

…..

Mary Margaret kept the two women outside the loft door until Regina arrived. She took one look at them and Rory tried to hide behind Emma. Regina sighed and pushed Emma aside. Rory looked up and winced, "hey baby… You are so beautiful today…"

"I bet I am. Let's go." Regina tried to grab her hand but the woman pulled back.

"What about Henry?" Rory pointed at the loft door.

Sighing, Regina nodded, "Miss Blanchard is bringing him home in an hour, after she feeds him dinner."

Nodding slowly, Rory took Regina's hand and let her lead her out of the building while she heard Mary Margaret telling Emma that she was definitely still high because the loft door had been open when they were looking for her keys.

…..

Monday morning came and Regina was awake first. She sat and sipped her coffee while watching Rory sleeping. Henry had gone to school already and the siren still slept. She had stayed buzzed until nearly midnight and then promptly passed out. Regina smirked and blushed at the memories from last night. She almost felt bad for not insisting Rory go to sleep, but… well she had simply refused to be still.

Regina straightened her face and back as Rory started waking up. She sat up a bit and jumped a little to see Regina sitting in a chair, sipping coffee and staring at her. "Ah… hey babe."

Regina continued staring at her. "So. You decided it would be a good idea to get drunk and high, on a Sunday, with Miss Swan?"

Rory cleared her throat and shook her head slowly, "no. I intended to drink and smoke a tiny bit with Lacy, on a Sunday. Emma popped in on her own, actually."

Regina sipped her coffee and crossed her legs, "I see. Well, I'll make you a deal. You tell me everything that woman said or did and I will totally forgive you."

Rory swallowed hard and considered refusing, but then she remembered who she was talking to. "Okay, look. We didn't mean to do so much, it just sort of happened. I for one am super sorry."

Regina stood and put her coffee on the end table. She then crawled into the bed and laid beside her. "I want to know what happened. If there is anything she said or did that I could use against her, it would really help in getting her out of town."

Rory sighed and pulled her in close to her side, "I get that. You are still worried she's gonna take Henry. But, I'm telling you, she isn't that bad really. She didn't say or do anything detrimental. Well, she tried to get up on me, but…"

Regina shot up in bed, "she what?!"

Rory winced and pulled her back down, "she tried to get me to be disloyal to you. Soon as I rejected her, she was cool again. She was actually looking out for you. That's why she was even there. She thought me an Lacy were hooking up behind your back."

Regina frowned and finally relaxed against her again, "that sounds like a stupid way of defending me."

Rory smiled, "yeah, but she did it for you."

….

Despite Emma's apparent defense of her, Regina still needed her gone. Which is why the fighting started back up again. Time after time, Emma and Regina clashed on nearly every topic. The only thing keeping everything from completely exploding was Henry and Rory running buffers between Emma and Regina. Regina had reached her breaking point when Sheriff Graham decided to run off to become a forest ranger, which Storybrooke didn't really need. With no sheriff, and election had to be held to get a new one. Of course, Emma was up for it.

Regina glared at Rory, trying to convince her to run for sheriff. "Rory, I need you to be sheriff. Miss Swan cannot be given that much power, not to mention a permanent job!"

Rory was trying to clean the pint glasses, it was going to be a busy Friday night and she was behind in setting up. "Regina, I do not want to be sheriff. Like, I can't imagine a worse job for me. Do you have any idea how biased I am? Not to mention I would totally accept bribes. Like, oh hey you were speeding! They're like, yeah well, I got half a ham sandwich here that says I wasn't! Then I let them go and enjoy my sandwich."

Regina rolled her eyes, "it doesn't matter. Nothing really happens here anyway."

Rory shook her head and looked Regina in the eye, "no. I'm not doing it. Let Emma have it. Henry loves having her around, and she isn't hurting anything. Aside from you two fighting all the time, she's fine. She doesn't want to take Henry, she just wants to know him."

Regina growled and stormed out of the bar, heading to her crypt.

…..

"Congratulations, sheriff Swan." Regina managed to say it without rolling her eyes.

Emma smiled and clipped her new badge on. "Hey, thanks madam mayor. The competition was fierce, but I won."

Regina arched one brow and pursed her lips. No one ran against her. No one thought they could do better than Emma. "Yes, I imagine it was quite the feat to win against yourself."

Smiling, Emma tried again to soothe the woman, "hey, listen, I'm getting really sick of fighting with you. I hope this shows you that I'm not going anywhere. I can be a part of Henry's life and not be a threat to you."

Regina crossed her arms, "really? So, tell me, why does he still believe all this fairy tale nonsense?"

Emma shrugged. The kid was pretty adamant. He even gave Emma tasks to complete in order to work towards breaking the curse. He made Mary Margaret go talk to a coma patient today because Henry says that's prince Charming and he might wake up if she talked to him. "He just has a really active imagination, it's not really harmful."

Regina threw her hands up and stalked out of the station. She had a plan now, all she had to do was acquire enough magic to get the same apple she used on Snow White and all this mess would be fixed.

….

Regina was pacing the hall of the hospital. John Doe woke up and wandered off. Rory was watching her pace, not being able to help her thru this one. She didn't understand why Regina was so distraught. She didn't know that Prince Charming just woke up because of Snow White.

She had a bit of magic now. It wasn't much, and it would destroy the ring Daniel gave her, but it had to be done. A few more weeks and Emma would not be a problem anymore.

…..

Regina was wearing an elegant, but casual, black and red dress. She had managed to get Rory to wear a very nice matching pant suit as well. Everything was coming together nicely, actually. She would have Emma out of the way tomorrow. Tonight was the town carnival and she intended to enjoy it with Rory. Everyone was laughing and dancing, well, nearly everyone.

Mary Margaret was secretly dying inside while she watched her David dance with his wife, Kathryn. They had such a strong connection, but he couldn't leave her now that he remembered her. Seeing her on the side was as much as he could accomplish.

Regina didn't care at all. Emma had stirred up those old evil flames in her. She had started picking at the mousy school teacher again out of spite for Emma. Mary Margaret was a much easier target.

…..

"What's this?" Emma asked as Regina handed her a food container.

"It's a peace offering, Miss Swan. An apple turnover, actually. The last time I made them, I had to fetch Rory from your doorstep, so no one got to try them." Regina smiled sweetly at the blonde.

Emma smiled and nodded, "yeah, I recall that night. It was kind of my fault actually." Emma decided to try again with this woman. "Hey, why don't you come in for coffee and we can split it?"

Regina smiled brightly, "coffee sounds good, but I'm afraid I'm full. I'd love to see if you like it though."

They walked in to the loft and Regina took a seat at the bar while Emma made coffee. Soon, she wouldn't be a problem anymore. They made idle chit chat until the coffee finished and Emma poured two cups of it. She then put the turnover on a plate and sat beside Regina.

Before she took a bit, the loft door opened and Henry came in. He looked shocked to see his mom there. "Why're you here?"

Regina frowned at him and fired back, "why are you here? You are supposed to be in school!"

Emma sat the turnover down, unbitten. "Henry, we talked about this. You can't keep skipping out on school to see me. This is part of the problem between me and your mom."

Henry looked past her to the bar top table. He pointed at the turnover, "what's that?"

Emma looked down and picked up the turnover, "it's an apple turnover your mom made for me."

She moved as if to take a bite, but Henry snatched it out of her hand. "It's poison! What is wrong with you? How many times do I have to tell you not to trust anything apple from the evil queen?!"

Regina was staring at the turnover, slowly moving towards it. She couldn't forgive herself if he bit into it. "Henry, it's not poison. That's ridiculous. Give it here."

Henry pulled back and looked at Emma, "you're gonna believe me now!" He opened his mouth to take a bite.

Regina shouted, but it was too late. His eyes rolled back and he hit the floor. She rushed to him as Emma called the paramedics.

….

At the hospital, Emma was screaming at her and asking her if it was all real. She didn't deny it, not anymore. Henry was in a coma and the doctor said he was fading. There was no magic here, the sleeping curse was a death sentence without magic.

Rory heard the fighting in the storeroom and rushed in before Emma hurt Regina. The two women started wrestling and throwing punches until Emma's nose was bleeding and Rory stood in front of Regina.

"You're under arrest, Regina. For poisoning my son!" Emma shouted for the hospital security to come help.

…

Ruby rushed in just as the guards were pulling Rory out of the store room. Ruby grabbed Emma as she saw Regina go back in to Henry's room.

"What the hell is happening here?" Ruby asked with wide eyes.

Emma licked her bruised lip, "Rory just confessed to poisoning Henry. Ruby, I officially deputize you."

"What?! Hell no! After that dead treasure hunt?!"

Emma grabbed Ruby and handed her hand cuffs. "She won't fight you. She is protecting Regina so she can be with Henry. Take her and lock her in a cell, I will deal with them later. Right now I need to talk to Mr. Gold."

Ruby took a deep breath then went to where two men were watching Rory. "I'm gonna take you to a cell."

Rory nodded, then looked toward the room where Henry was, "let me tell her good bye?"

Ruby hesitated but nodded, "fine. But be quick."

….

Rory protected her, again. She said she poisoned the turnover. She was going to jail now. Regina couldn't stop crying as she held Henry's hand. She had just lost everything. Rory put a hand on her shoulder and kissed the top of her head. "It'll be alright, Regina. I promise."

Regina shook her head and cried harder. "I'll get you out of this."

Rory nodded, "I know. Stay with him though. I'll be fine for a few days."

Then she was gone and Regina was alone with Henry.

…..

Gold smirked as Emma rushed in to his shop. "Miss Swan, how lovely to see you."

"Cut the shit, I know what you are. Can you help Henry? Can you save him?"

Gold nodded, "sort of, yes. I need something before I can make an antidote." He pulled a sword out from under the counter and handed it to her. "You'll want that."

Emma eyed the sword, "a sword? Really? What do I need to do, slay a dragon?"

Laughing, he said, "yes. You will need your fathers sword to do it too."

…

Ruby decided to take her time walking Rory to the station. The woman wasn't gonna be out for a while, so she let her enjoy the fresh air. It had taken them an hour to get back to the station. Rory went in to the cell willingly.

Ruby held her hands in her own, prepared to take the cuffs off. Memories flooded back to her unbidden. She gently stroked her thumb over the back of Rory's hands before finally taking the cuffs off. As soon as the cuffs were off, Rory pulled her hands back. Ruby bit her lip and prayed the tears wouldn't fall.

"We both know you didn't do this Rory." Ruby looked in to the womans grey eyes. They looked so cold.

"It doesn't matter. Emma is working to bring Henry back, and then everything will be fine." Rory stepped back so the door could close.

Ruby shook her head, slowly shutting the door. A wave of light shot thru everyone in town, including the two women in the cell. Ruby slammed the cell door just a split second before Rory rushed it. The woman jerked on the bars and shouted angrily, "Let me out! Please! Open the fucking door!"

"Hell no. You're not saving her this time. She doesn't deserve to be saved, Lorelei. For the first time in our lives, you're staying right here with me while Regina gets exactly what she deserves."

Shaking with rage, Lorelei slammed against the bars as hard as she could. She probably broke a rib or two in the process, but she kept doing it and screaming at Red to let her out. Begging her to let her out.

Red sat down on the desk and even with tears flowing down her face, she smiled. The curse was broken, and the whole town would be going after Regina now. She didn't have magic, she was no match for a whole town of pissed off people.

….

Emma burst into the police station and immediately heard the yelling. She was only here to get her service gun. She walked in to find Ruby sitting in the chair, crying. Rory was throwing herself against the bars, but stopped when Emma walked in.

"Emma! Let me out! You have to let me out! They'll kill her!" Rory shouted.

Emma stared at her, "Your name is Lorelei, isn't it?" the woman nodded, looking frantic and breathing heavily from trying to break out. "You're her guardian. The siren."

Nodding impatiently, Lorelei licked her lips and begged, "please, Emma, let me out. I won't do anything but protect her, I swear it! I have never hurt anyone who didn't try to hurt her, I won't cause any problems, you have to let me out please."

Red stood and threw a coffee cup at the bars, the porcelain shattering and making Lorelei back up. "Shut up! She doesn't deserve your help! She deserves to be shot in the street for what she has done to all of us! How dare you even ask to be allowed to help her?"

Emma thought about everything, it was a huge mess. But, she didn't want Regina dying. Henry asked Emma to protect his mom when he woke up and she ran out. Emma wasn't a liar. She picked up the cell keys and took a step towards the bars. Red was faster and moved between Emma and the cell door.

Red pointed a gun at Emma, "you try to let her out, I shoot you. I don't want to. I like you Emma, but you don't understand. You don't understand anything!"

Emma put her hands up and backed up a step. Lorelei was watching Red intently. "Woah, Ruby, you really want to shoot me just for letting her protect Regina?"

Red licked her lips, "I would. Don't make me. Regina deserves to be ripped apart by an angry mob. She cursed us all out of our homes. She put us here and tortured us for 28 years! She punched me in the face every Saturday for 28 years! She cursed Lorelei in to her god damn bed, Emma!"

Emma glanced at Lorelei, the woman was watching Red still, moving quietly to be directly behind her. If Red backed up two steps, Lorelei could reach her. Taking a shaky breath, Emma very slowly moved towards Red, very calmly, getting the woman to step back just slightly. "Ruby, I understand all that, I do. We're going to make her pay for what she's done, I promise you. But, if you don't let me let her out, she will never get the justice she deserves. She has to be brought in, not hunted down like a wild animal."

Lorelei waited quietly, seemingly forgotten in the cell by Red. "No! She deserves the mob!" Red shouted as she stepped back just within reach of Lorelei.

Emma dove to the side as Lorelei grabbed Red and pulled her backwards into the bars. The gun went off towards the station door as Emma ducked. The women wrestled thru the bars until the gun went off again, but then Lorelei managed to pull Red hard enough to hit her head on the bars. She let her drop heavily to the floor as she panted from the effort and the pain in her ribs.

Emma ran over and grabbed the gun, tucking it away quickly. She unlocked the cell and hugged Emma hard, "thank you, I owe you!" Then she took off out of the station.

Emma nodded and caught her breath before checking to make sure Red was just unconscious. She would have a headache, but she'd be fine. Emma laid her on the cell cot and locked her in. She didn't need the woman running around town at the moment.

…..


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Regina was standing on her front step. She was waiting for the lynch mob. She didn't care. The curse was broken. Henry was with the Charmings. Lorelei was likely in a jail cell, and even if she wasn't, she quite likely wanted nothing to do with her. Ruby escorted her out of the hospital, so Red was probably with her now. They were probably hugging it out and crying together. Lorelei would see that Regina was evil finally and stay with Red instead of helping Regina.

She stood on her front step and waited. She could hear the crowd coming. They were rather loudly calling for her head. She jumped a bit when Graham came running up the walkway. He stopped in front of her and bowed nicely. "Majesty, they're coming for you. Get inside, I will try to hold them off."

Regina shook her head and stared at him, "I will not, and do not call me that. Why are you even here?"

"You protected the wolves, and the werewolves… and me. Now, I'm gonna protect you. Where is Lorelei?"

Regina looked away, not wanting to answer the last question. She was saved from her answer by another man running up the walkway. "Jefferson? Now why the hell are you here? Glad to see you out of the house though…"

Jefferson gave her a glare before standing on the other side of her. "Oh you're so very humorous today, Majesty. I was released from my fancy prison when the curse broke. You changed everything to make sure I got to have tea with Grace and her false family every Thursday, it was more than you had to do. So, I am doing more than I have to do and protecting you. By the way, I have seen your town now and it sucks." He glanced around quickly, "where's Lorelei?"

Regina gave him a tiny smile, "well it was my fault. I was mad you couldn't tell me what happened in Wonderland. Don't suppose you can now?"

Jefferson scoffed, "not the time, majesty. We're all about to die you see." He gestured at the mob gathering in her front yard.

Victor Whale led the rabble so he spoke first, "Regina! You'll pay for destroying our lives! We know you don't have magic and there's a hell of a lot more of us than you!"

The huntsman stepped in front of her, "she cursed us and brought us here, but she fixed every wrong she could! Just because she couldn't help you doesn't mean she deserves death!"

Leroy pushed forward, holding a big stick, "it doesn't matter what she fixed! She still tore us from our home."

Jefferson decided to speak next, "oh! Yes! Our home land! I tell you what, anyone who hates this new land, please, by all means, leave your cell phones, car keys and indoor plumbing and go live in the woods! Go shit in a hole and build a house out of mud! How terrible it is to be in this land of science and technology. I know I hate the internet and modern medicine!"

A few people in the mob glanced around nervously.

Regina just stood and waited for them to drag her out and hang her. She didn't have anything worth living for anymore. Whale kept getting the mob worked up and the two men kept defending her, but it would come to violence before too long, so she waited.

The huntsman was to the left, arguing with a group. Jefferson was off to the right, arguing with more. Whale had an opening, and he took it. He rushed towards her with a knife. Regina closed her eyes, she wanted it to all end.

Silence made her open her eyes.

Emma stood in front of her, jerking the knife from Whales hand. She pushed him back and Regina could only stare as she berated the mob. She didn't listen to what Emma was saying, she just watched as the crowd slowly moved off.

Emma turned to her and put her hands on her shoulders, shaking her slightly, bringing her back to reality. "Hey, Regina, are you okay?"

Regina nodded absently, "I'm fine… Where's Rory?" She cleared her throat and sighed, "Lorelei, where is she? Is she still in jail?"

Emma glanced around with a frown. "No, I let her out. She wanted me to let her out, so she could protect you. I have no idea how I beat her here…"

Regina couldn't hold in the shaking sob that tore out of her. She shook her head and turned to go inside, "she doesn't want to be here, obviously."

Emma watched helplessly as Regina slammed the door in their faces. She asked Graham and Jefferson to help keep watch over the house, in case Whale rallied the mob again. She then set off to retrace the path from the jail. She was trusting her gut on this one, Lorelei was coming here. Something happened along the way, and she needed to find the woman.

….

Emma sat and stared at the woman locked in the cell. It had been three days since the curse broke. Regina wouldn't open her door, Lorelei hadn't been seen or heard from and Ruby was being a whiny bitch.

Lacy, now Belle apparently, had taken over managing the bar. She only intended to have it open on Friday and Saturday though, the rest of her week she spent cleaning and opening the library. Emma had searched everywhere for the missing siren, but the only thing she had found was her cell phone. There was nothing weird on it, it was just kicked under a dumpster in an alleyway.

She was sure something had happened to her, but couldn't find any leads. This was her last option, and it very well might bite her in the ass. She sighed and walked over to the cell door. "Okay, look. I can't handle you rotting in there, so let's make a deal?"

Red sat on her cot and stared at Emma, "if the deal involves not going after Lorelei, then no."

"On the contrary, that is exactly what I want you to do." Red looked interested now. "She's missing. I think someone snatched her right after I let her out of here. I can't find her."

Red stood and looked hard at Emma, "that was three days ago! She could have been killed by now! She could be starving in a cellar somewhere! Let me out so I can find her!"

Emma held the key up and made the woman quiet down. "I will, but, only if you promise not to hurt her or Regina."

Red clenched her jaw and seemed to think about it. "Regina deserves it. Lorelei is just trying to do what she was born to do, it's not really her fault. But, if Lorelei comes at me like she did before, I will defend myself."

"I don't think Lorelei would attack you, unless you go at Regina. So, problem solved, don't attack Regina and all is well."

"Fine. But you'll change your mind on that. Just, let me help you find Lorelei. Someone obviously wanted her away from Regina, and that means they probably want her dead. If they figure out how to kill her, that it."

Emma unlocked the cell and shook her head, "how hard is it to kill someone?"

Red quickly grabbed her jacket and explained as they left the station that Lorelei was immune to several things. Apparently once wounded by something, if she survived it, she couldn't be hurt by the same thing twice. No sword could cut her, for example. Red didn't mention the siren made sword… she needed a few points in her corner, after all.

They came to the alley where Emma found the phone. "Uhm… do you need like a shirt of hers or something?"

Red rolled her eyes, "I'm not a blood hound Em. I know her scent better than my own…"

Emma nodded and pretended not to notice the deep sadness in her friends eyes. She watched Red walk around slowly with her eyes closed. "Maybe it's been too long? Or maybe your wolf nose doesn't work without magic?"

Opening her eyes finally, Red smiled, quickly leaving thru the back of the alley, "works well enough."

…

Regina was sitting on the couch, like she had for three days. She really couldn't be bothered to do much more. Emma kept trying to talk to her, but there was no point to it. Her phone dinged with a text message and since she had nothing better to do, she checked it.

Emma: Hey, just wanted to let you know, I think we're on the right trail to find Lorelei.

Regina frowned, if the siren didn't want to be around, why was this blonde idiot trying to dig her up. She was obviously staying as far from Regina as possible, which she couldn't be upset about. She knew this would happen.

Emma: Ruby thinks she got the scent, so we're just following it now. I'm sure Red can find her.

Regina sat upright with a growl. That werebitch was following her trail? Great, so when they found her, it would be Red who explained things to her, again. Regina would bet good money that Red's opinion wasn't going to help the siren come back to her side. She had no right to try and coerce Lorelei in a weakened state that she must be in.

She had gotten dressed and fixed her appearance and grabbed her car keys before she knew what was happening. She sighed heavily and pulled her phone out.

Regina: Where are you?

Emma smirked when her phone went off, this was the first time Regina had responded to her in three days. She congratulated herself on killing two birds with one stone. She had a feeling once Regina heard Red was on the case, she'd finally get out of her house. Of course, now she was gonna have Red and Regina within each others reach, which according to her parents was about the worst plan ever. She needed a bit of back up. She shot a message to her parents, asking them to come help since Red was on the trail. Then she answered Regina.

Emma: bring Jefferson and Graham too, they should be outside your house.

Regina: No. Where are you?

Emma: Are they with you?

It took nearly five minutes for Regina to get past her stubborn streak, but eventually she responded.

Regina: Fine Miss Swan, they are with me. Now, where are you?

Emma: We are making our way towards the docks.

Regina: I am on my way. Do not let Red near her when you find her. She wants her dead.

Emma rolled her eyes and declined to respond. Red didn't want to kill Lorelei, she wanted to love her. It was an incredibly messy situation, at best. The worst part was, no one knew how Lorelei felt about either woman since the curse broke. Emma could see she wanted to protect Regina, but other than that, it was hard to tell. It'd been three days though, so whatever her true feelings were, surely they'd come out by now.

Red stopped walking when Regina's car pulled up and Jefferson practically fell out of the front seat. Graham made a better exit from the back. Regina got out last, steeling herself for this confrontation.

Red crossed her arms and stared at Emma, "you can't be fucking serious? I am not helping her get her claws back in to Lorelei. I won't."

Regina glared at Red, "you're just mad because you know she'll still despise you for trying to kill me."

Red growled and moved towards Regina, Emma held her back as the men stood between them, "hey! We're not here to fight. We need to find her, find out what happened to her. She can make her own choices after she is found."

Snow and David rushed over and took to Red's side of course. Snow held her hands up and calmed Red down, "hey, we need to focus on finding Lorelei, then we can deal with everything else okay?"

Red crossed her arms and glared at Regina, "I am not helping that psycho find her."

Emma sighed and tried to think of something to make Red move, but Snow spoke first, "okay. Well, then we will just let the poor thing rot wherever she is. Obviously we'd all rather she die of starvation than let Regina see her. Let's go get a cup of tea instead."

Red frowned and shifted on her feet, "no, I just… I don't want…"

Snow put an arm around Red, "you don't want to know what she really feels now that the curse is gone." Red nodded and hugged Snow back. "We need to find her Red. She saved our asses so many times, we owe her this much, and more. No matter where her loyalties lie in the end, she deserves the chance to make her choice."

Regina rolled her eyes and shook her head, "I doubt you need to worry. I don't even think she was taken. She probably ran off and hid from me as soon as she had the chance…"

Emma watched the emotions play across Regina's face. She was convinced Lorelei hated her, and it broke Emma's heart because she could see how much Regina really loved the woman. "Look, there is only one way to find out what happened." She looked at Red. "We have to find her."

Red glared once more at Regina and finally nodded then turned and followed the trail again. Snow and David followed her with Jefferson and Graham close behind. Regina hung in the back with Emma. Emma said very quietly to Regina, "I think you're wrong. I think she was coming to you when she got taken."

Regina shook her head, "you underestimate how very difficult it would be to take Lorelei anywhere she didn't want to go." She then looked around at the group. "Where exactly is my son while you all play hero?"

David called back to her, "he's with Granny. He wanted us to tell you he misses you, by the way."

Regina frowned and didn't answer back. Why would David give her the message? He didn't have to really. She shrugged and held onto the thought of Henry missing her, it would be nice to be missed.

…..

Complete darkness was the only thing that greeted her when she opened her eyes. She felt them to make sure they were even open it was so dark. She started feeling around, but it was short lived. She was somewhere cold and very dark. The walls were smooth stone and the ceiling was within arms reach. The room couldn't have been more then seven foot wide and long. There was a crack where the door must be, but it was sealed tightly. She sat back down and assumed she would die before too long. The only thing she couldn't figure out was who had hit her from behind, and what was around her neck.

…

Red slowed down as they reach a sort of cave, off to the side of the loading docks, against a cliff wall. The cave was dark and wet looking. "The trail goes in there, but even I can't see in that darkness."

Emma nodded and sent Graham and David to go get flashlights from the station. After they rushed off, the rest of them stood quietly and waited for them to return. Snow was the one to break the silence, "so… It's nice to have us all working together."

Emma groaned inwardly. Since the curse broke, this woman had been unbearably chipper and hopeful. Regina made a quiet huffing noise, "yes, it's so nice."

Red glared at Regina, "don't be a dick just because Snow can find something to smile about."

Regina glared back at her, "only a spoiled brat would find happiness while searching for someone who may or may not be dead in a cave."

"Hey!" Emma yelled. Once everyone stopped growling at each other she went on, "look, I get it okay? You all," She pointed at Red and Snow, "are still super pissed about being cursed." She pointed at Regina, "you're pissed the curse broke. But that really doesn't matter right now. None of it does. Eventually, I imagine you all are gonna fight it out, but not today."

Snow looked confused, "Emma, I'm not pissed." Everyone looked at her. She shrugged, "honestly, I'm fine with this world. Before the curse broke and everything came to a head, Regina was a pretty decent person. She did a lot to help everyone during the curse when really, she had 28 years to kill us all slowly. I also got to help her raise Henry, which although I'm sure she didn't mean it this way, was sort of like her giving me the chance to raise Emma."

Regina looked stunned, "that is not what I intended. I can't take credit for that, I never once thought of you losing Emma, actually."

Snow smiled at her, "I know. But, at least I got to help raise her son. You didn't have to create awards for me and other people, you didn't have to ship in modern curriculum as time changed for only the world around us. You didn't have to do a lot of things, but you did."

Regina shifted, looking uncomfortable, "I did things because I was bored, not to make anyone else happy."

Jefferson smiled at her, "yes, because forcing my neighbors to bring my daughter to tea every Thursday must have been so very entertaining for you."

Emma smiled at the former queen, "you can't admit you wanted to fix the problems you created can you?"

Red had wandered a little ways off and Snow looked towards her, speaking quietly to Emma, "I'm not mad, but until you got here, Regina didn't torture me. Red however, well…"

Regina interrupted quietly while looking out towards Red, "she had to watch me with Lorelei."

Snow nodded sadly, "what happened between them Regina? It can't just be the curse, or Red wouldn't be so mad at Lorelei."

Regina straightened up and resumed her regal appearance, "Red tried to kill me, as the curse was sweeping in. Her attack brought Lorelei back in time to save me. They fought each other because of me. One of them would have died if the curse hadn't hit when it did."

Snow looked heart broken, "I can't imagine that kind of pain."

Jefferson cleared his throat, "the curse broke, and I believe mine did too."

Regina stared at him, "you can tell me?!"

He nodded and explained for Snow and Emma, "Lorelei went to Wonderland with me, but she didn't come back. The dark one cursed my tongue and Grace too, my daughter. We weren't allowed to tell why or how the siren did not return because he needed Regina to feel betrayed and she had to love her mother enough to use her heart, which, Lorelei retrieved from Wonderland."

Emma was confused, "Wonderland? Seriously?"

Snow hushed her, "I'll explain later. Jefferson, speak!"

Jefferson smiled maniacally and continued, "Wonderland is no great place. It's full of pit falls and dangers. Nothing makes any sense at all until you understand it, then it makes less sense. We wandered for so long, we lost track of time. At some point, we were caught by the red queen who promptly had us beheaded…"

Emma held her hands up, "beheaded? Isn't that pretty fatal?!"

Jefferson laughed as he unwrapped the scarf around his throat exposing a jagged scar that went all the way around his neck, "nothing is overly fatal in Wonderland. Your siren has a band around her throat also. They had to use a wire to saw her head off, a sword wouldn't cut."

Regina frowned and remembered the thick black band tattoo around Rory's throat. "I thought that was just another new rune tattoo."

Jefferson nodded, "yeah, once they let us put our heads back on, instead of a scar she got a silver band. But, eventually we were back to hunting for the box containing Cora's heart. We found it…" he sighed heavily, putting his scarf back on. "We found the box, and my daughter. Rumple had taken her. I don't know how he got her to Wonderland, I haven't been able to ask. But, there she was, holding the box we came for. When Rumple had the box, he would bring Regina back from wherever she was, which is why Lorelei went to get the fucking thing."

Regina nodded, "and you had to take her there to get your daughter, but you didn't know Grace was there…"

He shook his head, "no, I didn't. The way the magic portal works, two go in, two come out. No exceptions…"

Regina closed her eyes and looked more saddened than before, "that son of a bitch. Rumple knew you would find Grace when you found the box. He also knew how good of a heart Lorelei had."

Red had come back over at some point and she looked depressed too, "oh my god… She let you come back with the box for Rumple, and with Grace. She didn't choose to stay there, she chose to let you and your daughter leave."

Regina let a tear fall, "she didn't want to leave us Red. She just wanted Jefferson and Grace to be together."

Red yelled out her frustration, "that fucking imp! He knew exactly what would happen."

Emma was over loaded on pending questions, but David and Graham ran up, stopping her asking. They had enough lanterns and flashlights for everyone and Red stormed into the cave with renewed determination. Regina was right behind her, and for the first time, no one worried about them being too close together. They were on a common mission now, the old hate would have to be settled later.

….


	25. Chapter 25

**I'm just gonna keep going. My mind wanders around a bit, I apologize if things seem rushed. I can't help it! All mistakes are mine, OUAT is not, this story is though.**

Chapter 25

Red led them thru a maze of tunnels and Regina followed her without question. Everyone was hoping the lights wouldn't fail before they found the siren.

Regina nearly ran into Red's back as the woman stopped suddenly, tilting her head and listening. Regina was about to tell her to keep going when she heard it too… It was singing. It was Lorelei singing. Somewhere in the darkness the voice could barely be heard. Red took off, sprinting thru the tunnel with Regina struggling to keep up with her. They finally came to a dead end with just a single heavy metal door on it. They started pulling on the door, but it wasn't opening. All the time they fought the door, Lorelei sang her song.

Lord, why did you take her?

She meant so much to me

Now I'm a wretched soul on a privateer

Drowning out at sea

I'm killing and I'm drinking, my blue heart to black

But I swear oh lord

I'll never sin again

If you bring her back.

Emma and David dug around the door, using flat shaped rocks on the ground to pry at it. It slowly started inching open, Regina was breathing raggedly, suddenly wishing she hadn't come. She was about to know whether Lorelei hated her or not. She was obviously taken, even she wouldn't hide here. As the door finally screamed it's way open, the siren had her eyes closed, leaning on the far wall, still singing. Everyone stared at her, not sure what her mental state must be.

The gypsy was a siren, dripping with desire

Her moonlit hair and skin so far

As warm as frozen fire.

She had the loyalty of a cat, behind those pale green eyes

And through her cherry lips,

The devil slipped a thousand lies.

A clan of rogues and vagabonds occupied her head

That thieving band took her pale white hand

And stole her from my bed

And like a ghost ship in the night, she drifted out once more

To land upon the sand of another lovers shore.

Emma was the first to move towards the woman. She gently reached out and touched her foot. Lorelei jumped and her eyes shot open, then she shut them tightly, squinting at the bright lights. "Whose there? Did you bring a snickers? I'm hungry as fuck."

Emma snorted a laugh, "it's me, Emma. I don't have a snickers, but we're here to bring you out. Are you hurt?"

Lorelei was slowly adjusting to the light, but still couldn't see past the lights, "Emma? Bitch you lyin. You always got a candy bar… Who's with you?"

Emma looked her over, checking for bruises or blood but didn't find any. "Snow and David, Red, Graham, Jefferson and Regina. Can you stand?"

Lorelei seemed to get lost in thought for a moment before shaking herself a bit and grinning, "you know, I don't think I can stand. Maybe I need to be carried?"

Emma raised a brow at her, she didn't look hurt. "I see. Well fine then, David could you…?"

"No! Not him. Ew." Lorelei said with a sour face.

Rolling her eyes Emma said, "Jefferson…?"

"No."

"Seriously? Fine, Graham…?"

"No."

Emma threw her hands up in annoyance, "then who do you propose carries your ass?"

Lorelei held her arms up and batted her eyelashes at Emma, "oh I'm so weak. So very weak. Poor thing, I've been starved for years down here."

Emma sighed but picked her up anyway. She wasn't overly heavy. "it's been three days."

Lorelei lounged as Emma carried her out of the tiny cell, taking great pleasure in being carried. Once outside the cell however she pulled herself out of Emma's grip and stood, dusting herself off. "That was unpleasant. I'd rather walk."

Emma clenched her jaw but grabbed her flashlight and pushed the woman further out towards the waiting group. "I am regretting finding you."

Lorelei had finally gotten used to the lights and looked around at everyone. Her eyes settled on Red. "You followed my trail didn't you?" Red nodded, but she was shifting her feet in awkward silence. Lorelei nodded and said sincerely, "thank you. I know you didn't have to."

Red swallowed hard and managed to whisper, "you're welcome."

She then looked at Regina, "are you alright?"

Regina nodded and was wringing her hands nervously, "I am. Emma and Graham and Jefferson helped me while you were missing."

Lorelei nodded and gestured to Red, "can you help us leave now?"

Red turned and started leading them out without another word. Lorelei followed behind her and everyone fell in behind them. Emma and Regina were in the back and Emma could see the stress on Regina's face. She would worry herself sick before this was done with.

It was in silence that they all came out of the caves. Lorelei stretched and took a deep breath of fresh air. She then turned to everyone and spoke, "okay. Now, who put me in there?"

Emma shrugged, "don't know."

Red shrugged too, "there wasn't another scent past the docks."

"Well, I didn't lock myself up, I assure you. Someone hit me in the back of the head and I woke up in that hole with a new necklace that I hope everyone likes, because I can't get it off."

Red and Regina both reached for the necklace, apparently forgetting their fight, to examine the thin silver chain around the womans neck. They both felt all around it, but couldn't find a way to open it. It was too small to pull up over head too, as Regina discovered. Both women stepped back and seemed to think about it.

David came forward and pulled a small multi tool out of his pocket, Lorelei snatched it out of his hand before he got to close and he backed up quickly. She opened the pliers and tried to get them on the chain, nearly choking herself.

Regina shook her head and took the tool from her, trying to cut thru the chain. "It won't cut it. It's not even making a mark." She pulled the pliers off and looked at them before shaking her head, "it actually dented the edges. I don't think it can be removed sweetheart."

Red looked at Regina and Regina blushed once she realized where she was and what she had said. She glanced around quickly and stepped back again. Everyone seemed to be waiting for something but Snow broke the silence again, "ah, Lorelei… we're all waiting to know what you're feeling…"

Looking confused, Lorelei said, "feeling?" She looked at everyone and then closed her eyes and nodded, "oh, since the curse broke you mean?"

Emma interrupted though, not really wanting things to explode at this particular moment, "hey, maybe we should get you something to eat? We can talk about everything later."

Lorelei nodded and let Emma lead her off towards the town and Grannys. Jefferson excused himself to go see to his daughter, Graham decided to stay with Regina to make sure no one tried to be her judge and jury again. Snow and David headed off to their home, assuming Emma would collect Henry.

Regina waited a few minutes then turned to Red who was watching Emma and Lorelei walk away. "Red… thank you. For letting me come along to find her. You didn't have to…"

Red shook her head and wiped away a stray tear, "I don't know what she's thinking, but I can imagine the outcome. Just… take care of her okay? You weren't the one who taught her everything in the world, remember? There's still a lot she doesn't understand, this whole thing proved that. She won't walk away from you Regina, we should both know that by now. I don't know if she still loves me or not, but if she does… just tell her I can't compete with you anymore okay? 28 years wasn't enough time to get over her, but I'm gonna try again. But take care of her, or I'll fucking kill you."

Regina nodded, slightly stunned that she gave in so easily. "Okay."

Red rushed off and Regina smiled at Graham, "well then… now what?"

The huntsman gave her a crooked grin in return, "well, I say we follow her to the diner. If she doesn't want you, I'm still single."

Regina laughed loudly and they started walking towards town. "Are you hitting on me, Huntsman?"

He shrugged, "sure, why not? You're fairly attractive and dangerous too. You know I love a good challenge."

Shaking her head, Regina rolled her eyes, "I'm afraid you don't stand a chance. You have no idea how loyal I am to that siren. I don't think I would ever get over her, I don't know how Red intends to try."

Graham nudged her shoulder playfully, "yeah, she's something special I guess. Honestly, if I had to choose, I'd pick the siren over you." Regina shot him a wounded look and he quickly explained, "I told you I like a good challenge! That woman tolerates me, at best, if that's not a challenge, I don't know what is!"

….

Once in the diner, Emma was surprised how many people were genuinely happy to see Lorelei. She got hugs from every woman, and a hearty nod from the men. Granny came out from behind the counter to yell at her, "where the hell have you been?!"

Lorelei put her hands up and backed her way into the last booth, "I was kidnapped! I didn't want to sit in a hole for a month!"

"Three days! You were missing for three days! Regina refused to leave her house the entire time. That woman was dying without you. The mob nearly strung her up too. If it wasn't for Emma she'd be dead." Granny had her arms crossed staring down at Lorelei.

"Hey, okay, I'm sorry I got kidnapped and locked up! Can I have some food though?" Lorelei watched as Granny huffed and stormed off, preparing to get her something to eat and drink. She looked at Emma, "you saved Regina?"

Emma sat across form her, motioning for Henry to wait a minute before coming over. "Yeah, well I'm the sheriff, it's my job."

"You're the savior. You're supposed to be here to defeat the bad in the world. I had thought the evil queen would be your new enemy."

Emma shrugged, "she doesn't seem evil to me."

Lorelei smiled as Henry couldn't wait and made his way over. She quickly whispered to Emma, "she wasn't born evil, it's not who she really is."

Henry threw himself at Lorelei, hugging her tightly as she tried to pick him off herself, "Ma! I was so worried about you! Are you okay? Did you die?"

Lorelei finally got him to sit down without attaching himself to her, "I did not die. I was kidnapped by some nefarious villain. No worries though, I was rescued just before I made a daring escape."

Regina was behind the booth as she heard the last part. She laughed lightly, "you were singing a ridiculous shanty in a locked stone room. You didn't have a shot in hell of escaping."

Lorelei smiled up at her and Regina sat beside Emma. "Lies. No one can trap me."

Granny delivered several plates of food and Lorelei refused to speak again until she had eaten every bite and drank four glasses of water. Finally, she had finished and she looked at Henry, "I think you and Emma should go wander off for a while."

Henry frowned at her, "why?"

Emma looked from Regina to Lorelei, they obviously had to talk. "Yeah, come on kid. We can drop by to see your moms later."

Henry didn't move, "I'm not leaving. No one knows what Lorelei is thinking. What if she hates my mom and wants her alone to kill her?"

Regina looked away quickly, not wanting to hear the answer. Emma was in shock that he had said such a thing. Lorelei just smiled at him and then leaned in very close to his ear and whispered something that made his face light up and he hugged her fiercely before jumping up and waiting impatiently for Regina to let Emma out of the booth. He drug her out the door without letting her say good bye. Graham nodded and left also, feeling the siren would take up the guard.

Regina frowned after them, wondering what she had said to him to make him so sure she wasn't going to kill her. She jumped a bit when Lorelei held her hand out to her. She looked up at the siren, unsure.

Smiling lightly, Lorelei wiggled her fingers a bit, "come on. You can't let me leave alone, look what happened last time I ran off. I got kidnapped. I need my knight in shining Prada."

Regina giggled and took her hand, "I'm still not sure you got kidnapped. I mean, that's a fancy necklace you got there, maybe you were on a hot date and it took a weird turn."

Lorelei guided them out of the diner and was leading them to the docks again. They sat at their bench, a small space between them as Regina was still very unsure of her place with the siren. "Well, I can assure you, this was not a gift I took willingly. I don't know what it does, but I don't like it not coming off."

Regina watched the harbor and wrung her hands in her lap, finally breaking the awkward tension she felt. "Lorelei… I want you to know… I didn't intend for the curse to put us in a relationship. It just sort of came out that way, probably because of the way this world sees things. I tried not to love you the way you were cursed to love me… I just couldn't help it. I'm so sorry…"

"You're sorry you fell in love with me?"

"No!" Regina shook her head violently, "no not at all! I can't even begin to tell you how happy you made me. I've never felt so loved and wanted. I just… I'm sorry you were made to feel the way you did. I feel like I took advantage of you and I shouldn't have."

Lorelei was listening, and a small smile stayed on her lips as the other woman spoke. "You didn't take advantage of me, Regina. I wasn't cursed."

Regina was frowning, trying to think of a better way to apologize and barely caught what the other woman said, after a few seconds she processed it and looked at her with confusion, "what did you say?"

Taking Regina's hands in her own, Lorelei scooted closer, "I wasn't cursed, Regina. I was somewhere between you and everyone else. I got a new life of memories, but I kept my own too. I knew both worlds like you did, but instantly, I didn't have to learn like you did."

Taking her hands back, Regina was suddenly furious, "why didn't you tell me?!"

Lorelei took a deep breath and told her tale. "I didn't tell you because I wanted to be cursed. When Red attacked you with the sword infused with my magic, it pulled me out of the hell that is Wonderland. I went from that living hell into a new one where Red was trying to kill you. When I woke up here, with new memories, I wanted it to be real. I wanted so very much to forget the enchanted forest, and especially Wonderland. My mind was a fucking night mare. I wanted no part of it. So, I pushed my old life out and embraced Rory. Rory loved you… and so did I, so it was easy."

Regina settled back down as she listened. "You…?"

Nodding, she took Regina's hands again, "when I was stuck in Wonderland… I tried to comfort myself with thoughts of Red, but it didn't help enough, not when things got real bad. Then I started to think of you… Regina, it took a good minute and a lot of pain and torture, but I was never a quick learner. I realized I was in love with you. I wanted you, even if you never wanted me in the same way."

"Red…?" Regina couldn't believe any of this yet.

"I did love her… but not as much as I loved and needed you. When I woke up next to you here, it was perfection. You didn't want to let yourself love me, and I appreciate you trying to not take advantage of me. But, really, I'm still surprised you resisted me for two years…"

Regina slapped her arm lightly, "you're not that irresistible."

She smiled and pulled Regina close enough to wrap her arms around her, "yes I am."

Regina sighed as she pressed herself into the other woman, "that's why you changed and no one else did. I bet you told Henry you weren't cursed, that's why he left."

Lorelei nodded, "yeah. Little doorstep demon baby is very protective of you. So is Emma, apparently. Anything I need to know on that one?"

Regina shrugged, "no, I have no interest in her. However, Graham offered to keep me company if you left me."

Lorelei pulled back and stared angrily at her, "the fucking Huntsman? You got a thing for hairy boys that smell like bear shit?"

Regina laughed and pulled her in close again, "no I do not. Besides, I don't think I could date him since he said he would rather have you."

"Oh hell no." Lorelei got up and started towards the diner to slap the beard off a huntsman.

Regina laughed and grabbed her arm, pulling her around and pressing their bodies together. "Never mind that boy. I know he doesn't stand a chance at either of us. Besides, I think he actually has a thing for Emma."

Lorelei relaxed and held her close, kissing her forehead, "I'm gonna bitch slap him when I see him."

Regina smiled and just said, "okay."

….

Red watched the women as they sat on the bench by the harbor. She hadn't meant to be anywhere near them, but here they were. She couldn't hear them, but she knew what was happening. She watched until they were standing and laughing. When they started kissing, Red turned and headed for the one place she could find a bit of peace, the rabbit hole. She just hoped the siren was too distracted to visit her bar.

….

The days passed in a sort of chaotic whirlwind. Everyone quickly decided they needed Regina as mayor. No one could keep this town running without a good mayor. Everyone else eventually went back to their work, trying to adapt to two sets of memories and their life in general.

Lorelei had thought about going to her bar, but decided to wait another week or so. Belle apparently only opened on Friday and Saturday and all the patrons were content to drink quietly and keep to themselves.

Everything seemed to be coming to a sort of calm existence, right up until everyone saw a massive purple cloud erupting from the forest. Regina held Lorelei's hand tightly as it rolled towards them. Emma, Snow and David had rushed to Regina to ask her about it, it was obviously magical.

"I have no idea what the hell that is!" Regina shouted at them while they rained questions down on her.

"Regina, it's obviously magic! No one else knows anything about magic, it has to be yours!" Snow shouted angrily at her.

Regina rolled her eyes, "have you forgotten the fairies? They have magic knowledge too."

Lorelei inhaled sharply and looked at Regina, "how's Mr. Gold lately?"

Regina's eyes widened in shock, "I forgot about him. He hasn't been around since he stole the egg thing Emma fetched."

They all turned and watched helplessly as the cloud came roaring towards them. It had to be the dark one. It wasn't going to be pleasant, whatever he had done.

….

 **The song referenced here is 'Lovers Wreck' by Gaelic storm.**


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Regina opened one eye and then the other, looking around slowly. The cloud passed thru them and vanished once it hit the far side of the harbor. She relaxed as she saw nothing out of place. "Ah… did something happen?"

Lorelei shrugged, "I don't think so."

Regina was about to go find Gold when she felt… something familiar. She held her hand up and watched sparks jump from one finger to the other. "Oh… I see now."

Lorelei watched as Regina made a small fireball and then let it go. She smiled and raised her own hand to do the same, but instead of a silver ball, she got one hell of a shock around her neck. She yelped and started trying to tear the necklace off. "Son of a bitch! This thing bit me!"

Regina got her to quit pulling at the chain and carefully examined it again. She had looked it over a hundred times, but now she could look at it with her magic. She sighed as she let go of it, "well, there's our answer to that chain. It blocks your magic."

Lorelei growled loudly, "so Roundaboutdiddleshit kidnapped me and locked this thing on me to block me when he brought magic back!"

Emma giggled but resumed her serious face quickly when Regina glared at her, "okay, so magic. Does everyone have it?"

Regina shook her head, "no, of course not. There's me, the fairies, Rumple. That's about it… well, Lorelei does too, but it seems she's been caged."

"I need the sword!" Lorelei said suddenly.

Regina frowned, "Red's sword? Do you think it's even here?"

"Of course it is… dearie."

Everyone jumped as Gold appeared in his cloud of smoke. "Damn it Gold! Why did you bring magic here? What is wrong with you? Why can't you just live your life and die a lonely old imp?" Regina yelled at him.

He only smiled, "I need it for reasons that are none of your business. Back on topic, majesty. I have Red's sword." He used his magic to knock Lorelei back a few feet when she charged him. "It's nice to have the upper hand with you. Anyway, as I was saying…"

Rolling her eyes, Regina interrupted him, "yes, yes. You have the sword, we want the sword to free her, you're willing to make a deal. It's the same tired speech as usual. Get to the part where you ask for something ridiculous and eventually we are forced to do it."

Sighing dramatically, Gold waited before continuing, "I want your pets blood. Not much, just a few drops. I tried to collect it myself while I had her knocked out, but I didn't find anything that could still hurt her. I thought the very sword in question would do it, but not without magic. Funny story, now that magic is back, it won't work because the siren has no magic, so neither does the sword. But, if I hadn't blocked her magic in the first place, she'd tear me up." He held his hands out, palms up, "you see my dilemma?"

Snow and David had rushed off while he talked to warn the town. Regina sighed, "Lorelei? What do you say?"

The siren had picked herself up and was glaring at the dark one. "So, I give you my blood, you give me the sword, I take off this chain and then I melt your ass to the cement?"

Gold laughed lightly, "almost. You give me blood, I throw a note back over the town line telling you where the sword is."

Regina frowned, "you want to leave town? There's no magic out there. What the hell is the point in bringing magic in if you're leaving?"

"None of your damn business." Gold sneered at her.

"If you ever come back, I'm gonna fry you." Lorelei said in a casual tone.

"Fair enough, but consider letting me speak before you do. You never know what answers I have to questions you've never asked." He vanished in his smoke, leaving the three women alone to think.

Emma shifted her feet nervously, "so… now what?"

Lorelei smiled at her brightly, "why, my dear Emma, you get to live one of your dreams!"

Emma looked very skeptical, "oh yeah? Which one?"

"You get to shoot me!"

Regina interrupted as Emma started to pull her gun out, "no! Hell no! Are you that stupid?"

Lorelei rolled her eyes, "Regina, it's fine. She'll just give me a wee bullet scratch. I've never been shot before."

Emma shrugged and started to take aim, but Regina magicked the gun away from her, "hey! You can't do that!"

Regina smiled as she held the gun flat in her hand, "yes I can, I have magic now, I can do whatever I please. You are not shooting my girlfriend."

Lorelei groaned in frustration, "Regina, come on. Would it make you feel better if you did it? I'll be bullet proof after this, it's win win."

Regina stared at her like she had three heads, "you're completely mental. No one is shooting you."

They argued for a few more minutes but eventually, Regina gave Emma the gun back and she took aim at the sirens leg, "hold still…"

Lorelei squealed and jumped away, "not the leg you ass! I enjoy walking!"

Lowering the gun Emma asked, "fine, you pick a place."

Lorelei seemed to think for a bit, looking herself over thoroughly, finally, she chose her upper arm. She pointed to it and flexed a bit, breathing heavily, "okay… do it!"

Emma pointed her gun carefully and after a few seconds, let out a big breath and lowered her gun, "I can't."

Lorelei let her own held breath out, "damn it Emma!"

Regina was laughing at them, "you guys are ridiculous."

Emma put her gun away and ran a hand thru her hair, "there has to be something else. What about nails? You ever been scratched so hard you bled?"

Lorelei smirked at then grinned wickedly at Regina, "that ship has sailed, long ago."

Regina blushed deeply and cleared her throat, "yes it has. Also, before you ask, there has already been incidents with leather straps and handcuffs that accidentally drew blood… and biting is out also."

Emma blushed this time, "okay. Way too much info… thanks."

Lorelei smiled happily as she pulled Regina in close to kiss her blushing face, "happiest accidents I ever had."

Emma giggled and shook her head, "I think you guys need to tone that shit down though."

Regina pulled away and gave Emma a mischievous look, "jealous?"

Emma had a comeback ready when her phone rang. She answered it and immediately took on a serious look, "oh ok… slow down! She fucking what?! Can she do that?! Oh my god, okay! I'll be right there… yeah I'll bring them."

Regina waited until she hung up then asked, "what was all that?"

Emma threw her hands up, gesturing for them to hurry and follow her as she headed to the diner, "apparently Ruby is a fucking werewolf?! Like, I had heard, but I didn't really think about it!"

Lorelei swore, "shit! Magic is back, and I'm betting Red can't control her shift. She hasn't had to for 28 years!"

Regina picked up their pace, "I bet she can't either. Let's hope Granny has an answer to this one."

They rushed into the diner to find a disaster, Emma looked around and Granny rushed Regina and Lorelei, "she can't control herself! She tore thru here like a rabid animal and then out the window she went. You have to help her until I can find her mothers cloak."

Regina frowned at the woman, "what exactly would you like us to do? I was never good at training dogs."

Lorelei shrugged, "the first time she shifted, when we were kids, she couldn't control it either."

Emma nodded, "hey, you helped her then, you can help her now?!"

Lorelei shook her head, watching Regina's emotions play out, "it wasn't me that helped her."

Regina glanced up at Lorelei and held her hands up, "no, I can't. She was my best friend when I helped her then. Now… well I haven't seen her since we found you. I took you from her and I highly doubt her wolf side is going to be very appreciative of it."

Granny had enough, she pushed all three women out the door and pointed up the street, "she went that way, follow the howls and screams. Help her, keep her still, don't let her hurt anyone, she'd never forgive herself. I think I know where the damn cloak is, go!"

The three darted off up the street in search of a crazed massive wolf. They eventually followed the mess to the door of the bar. Glancing at each other, they quietly crept thru the door that had been clawed open.

Once inside, they snuck around the bar and chanced a peek over it. They had enough time to see Belle sitting with a wolfs head in her lap before the wolf leapt up and they were forced to separate and back away. Without hesitation, the wolf squared with Lorelei.

The siren was jerking on the chain around her neck furiously, she knew she didn't stand a chance against Red's wolf with it on. When it didn't work and the wolf was getting closer, she held her hands out and smiled weakly, "hey… Red. How about you don't tear me up today, huh?"

The wolf snarled and snapped at her outstretched hands. Belle had come out from behind the counter and approached slowly, "Red? I know you're in there. You don't want to hurt anyone, I know you don't. You sat so nice with me until they came along. How about we let them leave and sit quietly some more?"

The wolf growled deeply and lunged at Lorelei. The pair hit the ground as Regina yelled and Emma held her back. After a few seconds, the wolf had the siren pinned to the ground. Drool from the massive jaws oozed down onto Lorelei's face and she squirmed, trying to get away from it.

As the wolf opened it's jaws to kill her, Granny came out of nowhere to cover the pair in a bright red cloak. The shapes under the cloak shifted and shrunk and finally lay still. Emma released Regina and she rushed over and pulled back the hood of the cloak to reveal Red staring down at Lorelei who was wide eyed staring back at the woman currently straddling her hips.

Regina cleared her throat, trying not to be angry at the positioning. "Red, how you feeling?"

Red shook herself back to reality and very quickly picked herself off the other woman, wrapping the cloak tightly around herself. She couldn't stop the tears as she tried to get away from everyone, "I'm so sorry… I didn't mean to…"

She tried to bolt out the door but Belle grabbed her and wrapped her arms around her, holding her tightly, "don't you dare run off."

Lorelei let Regina help her stand up again as they watched the other two women holding each other and crying. "You could use the apartment upstairs, to clean up, I mean." Lorelei suggested.

She handed them the keys as they passed. Regina looked at Lorelei and frowned at her, she was digging at her hand. "What's wrong?"

Digging deeper, her finger came back bloody. She shouted triumphantly, "Ha! Never have I ever been stuck with a stick!" She quickly got a rag from the bar and soaked up the tiny bits of blood. She then stuck her wounded finger in her mouth.

Emma slapped her roughly on the arm, "a fucking splinter? You didn't think of a splinter? You suggested I shoot you, but all you needed was a fucking splinter?!"

Granny huffed in annoyance and left the bar muttering as she went, "thanks Granny! You really saved the day! No no, Lorelei getting a splinter is far more impressive than you saving the town from your werewolf grand daughter…"

Regina winced as the door slammed then removed Lorelei's finger from her mouth and looked at it. "Well, it is a lot less messy than a gunshot wound. Let's get this rag to Gold so he'll skip town, shall we?"

…

When they entered the pawn shop, Gold hastily shoved something under the counter. Regina smirked as she knew exactly what it was. He cleared his throat and smiled, "did you get it?"

Lorelei handed him the rag with the blood and he smelled it, "lovely. Now, meet me at the town line in an hour and you'll have your sword."

Emma and Lorelei walked out but Regina asked for just a minute alone with him. She cocked a brow at him, "see anything you like in that magic mirror?"

He at least had the grace to blush slightly before shrugging, "I had my chance with Belle, and I blew it. I was just making sure the wolf pup wasn't hurting her."

Regina laughed and winked at him, "I'm quite sure. For the record, Belle was out of danger the entire time. Red's wolf seems attracted to her. Out of curiosity, how well do I need to clean that apartment before staying there again…?"

With a wicked smirk, he pulled the mirror out enough to see it himself and licked his lips, then gave a small shake of his head before putting it back, "I would recommend all the linens and… a good scrub in the shower as well if I'm any good at guessing the future…"

Regina blushed and made her way out of the shop, "don't be late, you have an hour."

Gold stared at the mirror and called back, "I only need ten minutes to be ready to leave, the rest of the hour is for reminiscing…"

Regina rejoined the women outside and was still smiling, "Lorelei, remind me to clean the bar apartment later this week… and also, remind me to enchant every mirror in our house and the bar…"

Lorelei raised her brows in question but Regina waved them off, heading towards the diner for coffee before meeting Rumple at the town line.

…

Gold was true to his word, he left the town wrapped in some raggedly fabric and once thru it, he got out of his car and wrapped a piece of paper around a rock, throwing it back over. He then simply drove away.

Regina caught the rock and read the paper, then she rolled her eyes and used her magic to take them to the elementary school. There, in the trophy case, was a plane if well made looking sword. It had black runes scribbled on it and a black leather wrapped handle.

Emma opened the cabinet and removed it, looking it over a few times before handing it to Lorelei. The siren stared at it, squinting and grunting. "it's broke."

Regina sighed and took it from her, holding it up to examine. "I don't imagine it'll do any good without it's magic."

Emma frowned, "if it's magic is her magic, and she has no magic, how do you give it magic?"

"Easy, we give it back to the original owner." Regina shrugged and headed out of the school.

Lorelei caught up to her, "woah, hey. Ah, you know, me and Red, we're not on the best terms at the moment…"

Emma caught up finally, "you're giving that to Red? But, isn't that the sword that can hurt Lorelei? The one Red tried to kill her with?"

Regina nodded, still headed for the bar. "Yes, which is exactly why we have to give it to her. It's her sword, with magic back, it'll activate for her. That's why Lorelei made it for her, after all, to protect herself with. If we hand it to her, it will activate, and then she can either cut the chain off, or cut Lorelei's head off."

Emma threw her hands up, "oh! Well shit, why didn't you just say so?! Good thing Red hasn't had some seriously unstable emotions lately! Surely she'll choose to snip that chain and give Lorelei all her powers back to protect Regina with."

Lorelei swallowed hard and stopped Regina, "hey, babe… maybe I can just live with no magic? I mean, I've been fine for 28 years…"

Smiling at her siren, Regina looked around before speaking, "what if trouble shows up? I have made a lot of enemies, you know. Now that magic is here in Storybrooke, anyone can come here like they would the other realms. Do you want to take that chance? I think Red has moved on enough for her to do this, I think she is over you."

Lorelei huffed a laugh and puffed up a bit, "Regina, one does not simply get over me. You can't really think she no longer wants me?"

Regina poked her in the chest and deflated her, "she's over you, darling. She's moved on to shorter, smarter women nowadays."

Eyebrows high, Lorelei resumed her walking, "Belle? Really? Oh, how good for Belle! She has been crushing on Ruby as hard as Mary Margaret crushed on you Gina."

Regina let out a sort of squeak as Lorelei dashed off towards the bar, Emma laughing beside her as they ran.

…


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

It took about ten minutes for Belle to open the door to Rory's old apartment. She had yelled just a minute and then the sounds of running around and swearing could be heard.

Regina was behind Emma, and Lorelei was behind Regina. They figured it'd be better if Red and Belle saw Emma firstly. When Belle finally opened the door, the three women couldn't help but bust out laughing at the sight.

The small woman was completely disarrayed. Her hair was mostly in a ponytail, but not very well. Her makeup was rather smeared and her shirt (which was actually one of Lorelei's shirts) was on backwards. She stood, leaning heavily on the door frame and breathing heavily, eyes wide.

"Hey. Hi. What's up?" Belle asked, stammering slightly.

Emma licked her lips and cleared her throat, "ah, yeah we need to ask Red a favor… is she decent?"

Belle snorted a laugh and rolled her eyes, mumbling, "she most certainly is not decent…" Then she shook herself slightly and blushed bright red. "Ah, I mean… hang on."

She then slammed the door and locked it again. Regina sighed and shook her head, "this is going to take all day."

Emma was still giggling and shook her head too, "give them a minute."

Lorelei, ever the idiot, decided to add her opinion, "Red is a beast during wolfstime. She is like a non stop rough love making animal…" She glanced at Regina and her mouth snapped shut with a click of teeth.

Emma winced and moved to whisper in the sirens ear, "it's considered bad form to talk about your past lovers in front of your current one."

Lorelei nodded and stared down at her feet, Regina crossed her arms on her chest and rolled her eyes, "it's not like I didn't know that already. When they first started hooking up, I got almost hourly complaints of them banging in the most inappropriate locations during wolfstime."

Lorelei had the grace to blush a bit and Emma knocked on the door loudly again, "hey! Could you hurry up please?! There's about to be a domestic out here and I'm the fucking sheriff so I'd have to deal with it!"

Finally, Red opened the door and glared at them all in turn. She didn't look as spent as Belle had, only slightly mussed up. "What?"

Emma opened her mouth to speak, but Regina interrupted, "first of all, get out of our apartment. You have homes of your own. Secondly, we need you to do us a favor."

Red huffed a laugh and looked Regina up and down in shock, "are you seriously asking me for a favor? Really Regina?"

Lorelei stepped up, getting between the two as Regina ground her teeth. "Hey, let's remember we rushed to help you, okay? Seriously, we come in peace. I need your help."

Red crossed her arms and looked at Lorelei with a flat expression, "what do you need then? What do you need from me that Regina can't give you?"

"Done." Regina simply said before vanishing in a cloud of purple smoke.

Emma took a deep breath and tried to calm the situation, "Rubes, please just hear me out?" Red nodded and listened as Emma explained the whole situation. "So, I was hoping, you would remove the chain, with the sword, and also not kill her because I could use some help if anything crazy comes around?"

Belle was listening now, having crept closer as Emma spoke. "What do you think will come?"

Emma shrugged, "I have no idea. But, considering I killed a dragon and the evil queen is shaggin a siren and my fucking parents are Snow White and Prince Charming, probably anything could happen."

Red smiled at her and laughed lightly, "okay. I'll do it, but under one condition?" Emma nodded. "You keep Regina away from me… I mean, once I'm out of her apartment."

Lorelei nodded happily, "yeah, no problem. How many times did I keep her away from you all back in the day?"

Red glared at her, "you let her cast a fucking curse to swoop us all off to this place! She could've been killing us and you were just happy to let her!"

Lorelei winced, "okay, sure, let's bring up the one time I let her get you guys…"

Emma took the sword from the siren and handed it to Red. It instantly flared to life with bright silver runes dancing along the blade. Red swung it around a bit, feeling the familiar weight again. Then she gave Lorelei a devious smirk and said, "well? On your knees."

Belle shook her head and walked back in the apartment. Lorelei took a deep breath and finally, slowly got down on her knees, looking up at Red with a glare. Emma held the chain as far away from the woman's neck as she could without choking her and held her breath as Red slowly slid the blade under the chain. She held it there for a bit too long as she seemed to consider her options…

Finally with a muttered 'fuck it', she snapped the chain. Red and Emma were both thrown into the wall opposite the open door. They hit the floor together in a heap with Belle as they stared at the blinding silver light in front of the doorway.

"Can she handle this?!" Emma shouted.

Red shook her head, fear on her face, "no idea!"

The light grew in intensity as a low rumble filled the area. Just when Emma thought they were gonna be toast, a wave of purple smoke appeared and Regina lunged towards the silver supernova. Emma shielded her eyes and tried to see, but it was too bright.

Regina had felt the instant Lorelei's magic came back to her, her own magic went to war with the mark on her chest as it flared to bright silver light. The moment she had herself under control, she poofed to Lorelei. She saw Red, Emma and Belle trying to climb thru a wall, but she didn't think twice before jumping at her siren. The magic coming off of her was intense and it made Regina's skin feel like it was burning, but she knew the siren needed her touch.

She wrapped her burning arms around her and held on thru the pain. Immediately, as she touched her skin to Lorelei's, the light and heat started to ease downwards. When finally, the siren got herself under control, she caught Regina as she fell. She put her hand on her own name on the woman's chest and poured her love and magic in to it.

Regina opened her eyes to stare into the silver ones she had missed seeing. She smiled weakly and put her hand over the sirens on her chest. "Hi…"

Lorelei smiled brightly, "hi there. You feel better?"

Nodding slowly, Regina pressed herself closer to the other woman, "of course. You have that effect on me."

Lorelei smiled and the pair vanished in a flash of light, leaving the other three women to stare at the spot they had been in.

"Wow…" Red sighed out.

Belle frowned at her, "what?"

Red shook her head, a few tears escaping her eyes, "Regina… she didn't even hesitate. She just grabbed her…" She swallowed thickly, "I think I owe them an apology…"

Emma stood on shaky legs and looked at the woman, "for what?"

Red looked back up at her, "I've never seen that kind of love and loyalty… I wouldn't have done what Regina did…"

Belle took her hand and smiled at her, "I think that's a pretty healthy thing for you to admit."

Emma shook her head and started to leave, "yeah well, it looked like a load of suicide crazy shit, but yeah, love and loyalty too. Whatever."

….

Regina smiled as she snuggled in closer to her siren. She traced the shining silver runes on her body, memorizing all the new ones. Before she went to Wonderland, Regina knew them all. She hadn't bothered remembering the black tattoo versions, they weren't right to her. But now, now they were happily shining and she wanted to remember them.

She gently traced the woman's silver marked ears and asked quietly, "when did you get these?"

Lorelei was smiling at her, letting her explore and answering the questions. "Wonderland, not everything speaks the same language there. Every time I heard a new one, it took a few seconds to learn it completely. After two or three, I got the marks on my ears."

"So you can understand every language after you hear it a bit?"

"Yep."

"So, when I was learning Spanish and French here?"

"I learned it in minutes when it took you months." Lorelei said with a smile.

Regina huffed in annoyance, "well, we don't all have magic ears dear." She finally made her way down to the sirens throat. There was a thick silver line all the way around. "How did this happen?"

Lorelei sighed and looked around, as if digging up the memory, "the red queen. She's a total bitch, just so you know. She chased me and Jefferson all over that horror they call a home. Eventually, she caught us and had us beheaded."

"Your magic couldn't help you?" Regina sked, suddenly very much angry at whoever the red queen is.

"Not always. Wonderland sucks babe. Sometimes I could do anything, other times, I couldn't have lit a candle." She chuckled a bit, "sometimes, I'd go to light a candle and accidentally summon the bandersnatch."

Regina frowned, "I'm sorry you went there…"

Lorelei immediately had a stern face and held Regina's face to look her in the eyes, "no. Do not be sorry. It made me stronger and I got what I needed to force Riddledinkhumptydump to pull you out of Maleficents grip."

Regina bit her lip a little, trying not to look like she was hiding something. Lorelei caught on and after a few minutes of badgering, Regina told her everything that had happened at Mal's castle. She expected maybe anger or jealousy, but Lorelei just nodded, "I'm glad she could help you. You wouldn't let me in your head. Of course, I was still bangin Red…"

Regina poked her roughly in the ribs, making the siren grunt painfully, "bad form, asshole."

Nodding and rubbing her side, Lorelei smiled at her, "right. Forgot."

Regina smirked and quickly found her way on top of the other woman, straddling her hips and leaning down to talk against her lips, "I know something you won't forget…"

Lorelei shivered, not from the cold and ran her hands down Regina's back, landing on her ass and gripping suddenly, making the brunette groan in a delicious way, "show me."

….

Emma was considering calling Regina or Lorelei, checking on them, but she was distracted by a strange ship drifting into the harbor. She frowned as she examined it from the docks. It almost looked like a pirate ship, of all things…


End file.
